The End of The Beginning
by IceLemur
Summary: When Kopa returns to the Pride lands with two friend, an ancient grudge will be fulfilled, old friendships will burn to life once more, and Pride rock will see war once more.
1. Prolouge: The Final Assignment

My first story here, so I'm still learning how to use it. I probably overrated it, but I guess that's better than underrating it...the rating won't become apparnt until much later. Anyways, Thanks for reading!

Charters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight caraters with names). You'll se Ahadi and Uru in one scene, so I just put it in here.

* * *

"Is that all you ask in return for your…talents?"

"Yes" Responded the caracal.

"Really? That's it? I was expecting some large favor; after all you are retired from the trade, aren't you?"

"Yes" the caracal gritted his teeth; he wished that they would just agree to the terms so he could complete the job.

"Why do you want us to care for this cub? It obviously has no relation to you," The lion chuckled, "but if it is what you want in return for your services, than I suppose I will have to agree."

The cub he spoke of was on the ground in front of him. She had yet to open her eyes.

"Then we are agreed on the terms?"

"Yes, but what is her name?"

The caracal thought for a moment and replied "Bidi" over his shoulder as he disappeared into the night.


	2. A New Friend

Yes, this story is mostly written (I heart word), but I want to edit it before posting, so bear with me.

Charters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistent with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

_Focus, yet be aware of your surroundings, you cannot allow your eyes to stray from your target until you have it in your claws. Do not be seen or heard by your pray, they need little reason to run._ Uvuli's words echoed through her head. She could not let the buzzards to hear her until she could catch one of them. She slowly slipped through the tall grass nearing the clump of disgusting birds. They had not begun to eat, so they had not been there for long. She struck, catching one of them on the back and holding on for a second before releasing it, she had caught it, and that was all that mattered, besides Uvuli said they didn't taste all that good anyway. She turned to see what they had been gathering around and nearly gasped. It was a young lion cub; she had not seen another lion since she began eating solid foods and was thrown out of a pride with Uvuli, something about an arrangement... Anyway, what was he doing out here? Shouldn't he be with his pride? She thought for a moment and then dragged him as far as she could before running to the oasis where she lived with Uvuli. "Uvuli, I found someone in the wastelands!"

Uvuli had been awoken by this cub from his nap...again. _Why didn't I just have them keep her?_ He thought to himself before responding "Who?" in a relatively uncaring voice compared to her shrill cry. Uvuli was a large dark caracal that had found Bidi with her dying mother. He had named her.

"Another lion cub" she said, now out of breath.

Uvuli sighed, almost cringing at the idea of another cub, but he knew that there was little choice in the matter; she wouldn't let him leave this newcomer to die. He came down from the tree he was taking a nap on and followed her to this newcomer.

"Over here!" She said after a short sprint, he trotted over and carried the lion cub back to the oasis. He knew that whoever were this cub's parents were that they would think him dead in a matter of days. He sighed as he climbed up his tree and resumed his nap.

"Are you all right?" The unfamiliar voice penetrated the thick fog that had filled his head. He groaned in response. An image of a lion cub came into focus, her light blue eyes staring with concern into his face. What had happened? Where was he? Then, as if a dam had broken in his mind, he remembered...

"Hello?" She had noticed some movement and his eyes were opening. "What's your name?"

"Kopa" he replied weakly. He was still not entirely awake. His head pounded and his entire body felt heavy, as if his limbs had been replaced with lead. He saw a pool of clear next to him. His eyelids were heavy, he could fight it no longer, and he sank into the sweet embrace of sleep once more.

"Helllooo?" Bidi tried again but he had gone back to sleep.

"Let him rest." Said Uvuli, "He has probably had a rough time, he needs the sleep."

"...Kopa," said Bidi quietly. "I'm Bidi" she whispered before curling next to him for the night.

Uvuli looked at the two from the top of his tree. The two lion cubs that had been shoved into his life...maybe this was a second chance to have a family, chance that had been taken from him what felt like so long ago.


	3. A Tragic Discovery

This is is the only chapter with only characters from the original two movies.

Charters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight charaters with names).

* * *

"He's gone?" Simba yelled at Zazu "what do you mean he's gone? Lions don't just disappear into the air!"

Zazu wished that he has waited for Timone and Pumbaa to arrive before confronting Simba. "No one has seen Kopa since he left pride rock yesterday."

"He's gone away for a day before, but never this long…" Simba said as he paced back and forth over the floor in the cave. It had been two days since Kopa had disappeared, and he hadn't told anyone on pride rock where he was going. Kopa had been gone for entire days before, but always returned to pride rock for the night. He had not been back when Simba had gone to sleep, he had been worried yes, but never thought Kopa wouldn't be back when he awoke. Something was wrong, he knew it. Had he gone to the outlands? Maybe one of Zera's pride knew where he had gone.

"Zera!" Simba called.

"Yes?" responded the deep voice of the leader of a small group of females who had entered the pride under Scar's rule. They felt as if Simba had stolen the position of king from Scar, but appeared to accept Simba as the new leader of pride rock.

"Zera, do you know where Kopa is?"

Zera saw her chance to strike at his heart present itself to her as if on a silver platter. No, she had not managed to kill the brat that Simba called a son, but he had left the pride lands yesterday after somehow hearing of her plan to kill him. She cared not for his fate, and the fact that Simba had come to her showed that he was desperate for any information.

"Yes, I do believe that I have, Simba." She said slowly, to drag out the time that she could see the look of hope on his face that she knew would soon turn to despair. "The vultures will have picked the carcass of that hairball you called a son clean by now." She said and stayed only long enough to see his face transform to despair. Then came the anger, but she was already out of reach with the rest of her followers. Simba roared in anger, they had gotten away; they all knew that they were banished. He didn't need to tell them that. He hung his head in despair once more…Kopa was dead. All that was left was his daughter. He would not lose her not like he lost Kopa…never…


	4. Confession

'll leave it to you why it is called "Confession." It's not as obvious as it was before.

Charters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight caraters with names).

* * *

"You must stop communicating your next move."

"What?" Kopa looked at Uvuli in confusion. He hadn't told him what he was going to do.

"To stop an opponent from bloking an attack, you must move fast and without warning, such as tensing your shoulders."

Kopa sighed as he remembered Uvuli telling him to relax, but it was harder than it sounded to relax when adrenaline was pounding through your veins. He and Bidi had been taught how to fight by Uvuli. Kopa had always been better than Bidi at fighting, but she could bring down a gazelle without thinking twice about it.

Kopa had grown since Bidi had found him surrounded by vultures; he had a brown mane that matched his eyes and a solid gold-brown coat. Overall, he matched the landscape of the wastelands perfectly. Bidi had grown as well; she had a white-tan coat and light blue eyes.

"It's impossible to get anything past you, Uvuli!" called a familiar voice.

Uvuli glanced over his shoulder to see Bidi next to a dead zebra. "You made too much noise," He said to Kopa as he dodged another strike without bothering to look.

Bidi laughed. "I brought dinner." She said.

"So Kopa, where did you come from? I've never gotten a straight answer out of you before," asked Bidi after a short pause.

Uvuli's attention was caught, but his only sign that he was at all interested was that his eyes moved from the meal to Kopa.

"I told you, I don't remember anything before you found me in the wastelands"

"Come on, you tell us, Pleeese?"

"I don't remember." Kopa clinched his teeth together to prevent himself from yelling at her.

Bidi pouted, but knew when to stop probing him for an answer to a question.

"The weather will soon change," said Uvuli as he looked up at the darkening sky. A ring of light was around the moon. Soon the drought that had plagued the wastelands would be over and the threat of wildfire would diminish, if only slightly.

"That's good; the herds were starting to move on because of this drought." She replied. Uvuli always seemed to know the weather, and his predictions were never off. She had recently begun to learn the different signs of the weather, but still could not do as well as he could. "Uvuli, where did you come from? I asked a few of the lions in the pride before we had to leave, but they either ignored me, or avoided the question all together."

He thought "When did you become so interested in our origins, Bidi?" He responded quickly.

"Well, it's just, I've known both of you for my entire life, but I don't know where either of you came from."

Meanwhile, while Uvuli was dodging questions from Bidi, Kopa was lost in his memories of his former home.

"Fine! Don't tell me!" said Bidi as she gave up on them. She would have to try again later. "I'm going to sleep." She said as she got up and went over to the pool of water that formed the oasis that they lived at.

"Good luck with that," Uvuli said to her as she left. He chuckled to himself. "You haven't spoken much tonight, Kopa," he said and turned to face the lion.

Kopa was startled out of his musings by the sound of his name "What? Oh, yeah" Kopa had grown with Bidi after she had found him in the wastelands. The oasis that he and the others lived at was nearby a large water hole in the wastelands. Kopa, eager to break the silence asked, "So, what did you do before you found Bidi?" He did not expect an answer, but hoped to start a conversation about anything to get his mind off home.

"I was an herbalist of sorts." He said, waving his paw.

Kopa was skeptical that Uvuli did the same thing Rafici did in the pride lands, but it was something. He had never heard Uvuli speak of his past before, or anything about himself for as long as Kopa had known him.

"So where are you from Kopa?"

"Nowhere important."

"It is to you."

"I can't go back. It wouldn't change anything." Said Kopa as he turned his face away from Uvuli.

"Maybe it wouldn't change what you want it to, but something would change. Something always does," responded Uvuli coolly.

"Even if I go back, what would it prove?"

"That you are alive."


	5. Strange Visions

Ohhhh... Foreshadowing...

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

A wind blew through the branches of a huge tree, where a shaman sat looking at the painting on his tree. His attention was drawn to a painting off to the side of the others, a lion cub with a gold brown coat. The lion had not been given a mane even though it was about as old as Kovu's. It almost seemed as if it was closer to the others than it had been before. The wind blew ominously through the branches of the tree that Rafiki had made his home. He looked up to the night sky looking for guidance, but found none. He sighed.

"Simba requests your presence," said Zazu.

"Do you remember who this is?" he asked without paying attention to Zazu.

Zazu looked at the painting that the shaman gestured to. "That must be Kopa, Simba's first son."

"Why does he not have a mane?"

"He died when he was only a child, killed by Zera. Kiara was too young to remember him. You made the painting, shouldn't you know?"

"Did you ever find any proof?" Rafiki plowed on ignoring Zazu's question.

"No, however Zera confessed to doing it herself."

"I assume that we can only trust her to lie."

"True, but no one has seen him since."

"Hmm... Well, what does Simba wish to see me for?"

"He has heard disturbing reports of prey being stolen."

"Lions are not the only ones that must hunt for food, you know."

"They were killed by lions, according to reliable sources."

"What does he expect me to do about it? Wish them all away? I am a shaman, not a god."

"He did not say, Rafiki."

"I see...very well, tell him I will be at pride rock by sunrise."


	6. Decision

Well that bit of suspense was short-lived.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Kopa slipped through the tall grass of the waste lands as silently as he could. He had decided to return to the pride lands. He did not know what he would do once he got there; he just knew that he had to return. It had been a while since he had come to the oasis, he and Bidi were grown, his mane had filled out. He felt guilty about leaving Bidi and Uvuli behind, but...

"Where are you going?" said a whispered voice from next to him. Kopa nearly jumped from the unexpected sound.

"Bidi! What? How? Why were you following me?"

"I saw you were going somewhere, I just wanted to know."

"I..."

"Your going home aren't you? Don't look so surprised, I have better hearing than Uvuli likes to believe. I just decided to come with you."

"But Uvuli-"

"He'll follow us if he wants to, don't worry nothing gets past him."

"Bidi...I"

"Your welcome, after all we can't hope to bear all of the worlds problems on our own backs, now can we? You will always need the help of a friend."

"Thank you"

"Don't mention it, so... where is it were headed exactly?"

Uvuli watched them leave from his tree, they must have thought that they had not woken him. He slipped down from his tree and followed the pair towards wherever they were going. It would be more interesting than here.


	7. Intruders

Don't worry, this switching between Kopa and the pride lands will soon end.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Simba watched Rafiki approach pride rock as the sun rose over the horizon. He had hoped that the shaman would be able to help him in finding these intruders. This needed to be put to rest before it got out of hand.

Rafiki looked up at Simba. The ruler looked off, concerned about these new arrivals. "The morning sky is indeed beautiful from pride rock, however, I doubt that you summoned me to enjoy the sunrise with you."

Simba smiled, "So I assume Zazu told you."

"Yes, he informed me of your plight, and what do you wish me to do about it? As I told Zazu, I cannot wish them away."

"I know, however, I would like you to keep an eye out for them, for all we know they could just be passing through."

"And if they are not?"

"If they are not, than I have told the hunting party to be careful and to keep an eye out for them. Only one antelope was found dead, I do not want to jump to conclusions."

"Keep all possibilities open, Simba. We do not yet know if this will become a problem."

"I hope it does not"

"We all do, Simba...By the way, what did Zazu mean by 'reliable sources'?"

"A cheetah that claims he saw a lion kill an antelope. He is the only eye witness besides the herd of antelope themselves, and the stories match perfectly."

"It could be a rouge."

"Then it wouldn't be too much of a problem."

While they spoke, a leopard sat on top of a rock not too far off. Katili would want to hear this.


	8. Return

I'm gonna warn you now, this story is long. About 60 pages on word.

Charters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

"There" said Kopa as he pointed to a shaded spot on the horizon. "That's an elephant graveyard next to the border of the pride lands."

The two lions headed towards the graveyard with a quickened pace, they were almost there. Kopa knew that if they made good time, they could be at pride rock by sundown, if not then they could go to Rafiki's tree for the night. The graveyard loomed ahead of them with the bones of many a great beast in them. The closer they got to the place, the colder it seemed alough the sun shone brightly in the sky.

Uvuli followed them at matched pace. _I've been here before... _The path was too familiar to him he had seen this elephant graveyard before, but could not remember when. He shrugged and kept following the two lions that he had raised from their childhood. He knew that they wouldn't return to the oasis after this. Bidi would finally be with her own kind, Kopa would finally be with his family that had thought him dead for almost his entire life, but he felt uneasy, like something was there for him to do...one last thing before he died. He had hoped that he had done this after he had raised Bidi and Kopa and he would finally be able to rest. The fates had other plans, and he knew it.

The graveyard itself was as foreboding close up as it was far off. The two lions moved cautiously, their senses keen for any disturbance. Uvuli followed silently, easily keeping up with them as they made slow progress. A slight disturbance in the bones caught the attention of all three. "Hyenas live down here." Kopa whispered, "Be careful, one or two are not a problem, but a lot have a habit of showing up once a fight has started." Bidi nodded in recognition.

The hyenas had left soon after Zera's appearance, afraid that Zera would have killed the weakened clan. A male lion stood on a ledge overlooking the scene. He only saw the two lions and did not notice Uvuli following them. He decided to follow them to see where they were headed. As he slipped into place behind them Uvuli noticed his presence and decided to keep an eye on him until he left. Staying carefully out of sight, he stayed within striking distance of him. If he made a move, any move, he could easily end him. It had been a while since he had killed a lion with his bare paws. He knew the adrenal rush that he felt all too well.

Eventually, all four made it out of the graveyard. The lion saw that they were headed to pride rock. Uvuli kept an eye on him and filed his presence away in his mind, this could mean trouble along the way.

"So is that pride rock? I mean the big rock pointing up from the ground, it's kind of-"

"Yes, that's pride rock." replied Kopa, cutting her off before she could get into a rant. Bidi looked around. It was getting dark, and Kopa was itching to move ahead. "Bidi?"

"I'll just take my time and catch up to you later Kopa." She said in a detached voice.

Kopa gave her a funny look, "Okay, I'll meet you up ahead."

Bidi nodded as Kopa ran off towards pride rock. She sat down, "I know that you're there."

The lion was stunned that she could tell, "How did you know that I was there?"

She smiled, "I had a great teacher. So, what's your name?" she asked as she turned to see him.

He took one good look at her and knew her immediately, "Nice to see you too, Bidi. Glad you remember me"

Bidi looked at him for a moment before exclaiming, "'Dari! Is it really you?" She hadn't seen her cubhood friend since she had left the pride with Uvuli.

"Do you have a nickname for everyone?" He said as he drew closer to her. It had been so long since he had seen her, but her eyes had not changed.

She purred, "No, just you." Kopa got really nervous whenever she acted like this towards him, usually her humor would get the better of her around now and she would burst out laughing at the look on his face. But Hodari...

He chuckled, and drew closer to her so they were touching, "well then, I guess I should feel privileged then." They lay down next to one another and started to look at the stars as they had when they were cubs. The stars brought back many memories that had almost been forgotten.

"Bidi? Are you OK?" Kopa's voice rang out from the direction that he had gone in. Apparently, he had decided that she had been too quiet for too long. Hodari sprang to his feet at the sound of Kopa's voice. Bidi looked at him, and sighed with a look of annoyance and disappointment on her face.

"Don't worry, 'Dari, it's just Kopa, he's my brother...sort of, he's not really my brother, you see-" she looked back to see that Hodari was gone.

"Oh, you're OK." Kopa sounded sheepish after seeing the annoyed look on her face, "I though that I heard someone else here, so I just came to check on you." He put out this excuse feebly, in the hopes that she would stop looking at him like that.

Bidi looked around to see if Hodari was still there. He was so nice too, and shwe had missed him..."come on, Kopa, you need some sleep, you're staring to hear things."


	9. Reunion

Longest chapter so far. I don't like working with other people's characters, it's hard to keep them in character.

Charters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

"The view from here is great!" Said Bidi as she sat on the edge of pride rock, looking at the sunrise.

Kopa nodded. He was home, after all this time he was finally home.

Simba wondered groggily out of the cave where he and the rest of the pride slept. "Who's awake?" He muttered groggily as he left the cave to see who it was. "Who are you?" he asked as soon as he saw Bidi, suddenly awake.

She turned and saw a large lion that had a gold-brown coat and a red mane. "I'm Bidi," she replied, her gaze shifted up for a moment, as she tensed for a fight. "Oh, Uvuli, I thought it was someone dangerous," She said with a sigh and her muscles relaxed.

Simba turned and looked up to see a large dark colored caracal sitting on top of the rocks that formed the entrance to the cave. His fur made him almost invisible to the casual observer.

Uvuli laughed as he saw the look of confusion on Simba's face.

A third voice came from the vase of pride rock "Uvuli? Here? I thought he was going to stat at the oasis. The third lion came up and Simba got a good look at him. He had a brown mane and a gold brown coat that was only a shade darker than his own.

"Kopa, you decide to join us, then?" said Uvuli as he looked in the lion's direction.

"Kopa?" said Simba as he looked at the lion. They looked the same, but Kopa was dead, or so Zera had told him. _We can only trust her to lie. _The shaman's words echoed through Simba's mind.

A voice came from the cave "Simba?" It was Nala; she must have heard the noise from inside the cave. As Nala walked out Uvuli's attention was drawn to her...Where had he seen her before? She must have been only a child when he had seen her...but where, and more importantly, when...

"Simba, who are you talking to?" she asked.

"I'm Bidi, he's Kopa, and that's Uvuli." Bidi piped up before anyone could respond.

"Kopa?" Nala whispered to "Simba, could it be?"

"I don't know..." he replied quietly.

"Who?" asked Bidi.

"Our son was killed by a traitor named Zera," Nala said, "Simba banished her and her followers to the outlands, but our daughter fell in love with Kovu, Zera's youngest and successor to Scar."

"Scar?" asked Bidi. Uvuli looked at Kopa, he knew that Kopa would know who Scar was, and why he had a successor to the throne.

"Scar was Simba's uncle and killed his own brother and tried to kill Simba in order to gain the throne. Simba escaped and grew up with Timone and Pumbaa who taught him to run from his past. Nala found him there after they were grown, and took Simba back to take the throne from Scar, who was killed by the hyenas he had employed to help him take the throne." Kopa answered. He had herd this story a lot from Sarafina.

Bidi looked at him, her curiosity satisfied. Uvuli just smiled in his direction. The expression seemed strained as if it was unused. Simba looked at him with a look of shock and Nala looked at him with a look of joy in her eyes. "Kopa!" she cried as she ran over to her son who had thought to be dead for years.

"I'm finally home, mother."

A leopard sat not too far off. _So Uvuli is here...this just got a lot more interesting. _He smiled cruelly as he contemplated the death of the carcal. _This makes it all worth it. _He slipped away into the gathering light to report his discovery.

Simba went over to greet his long gone son with a look of shock and relief on his face.

"They look so happy and adorable, why don't we ever do that?" Bidi asked Uvuli with a slightly mocking tone.

"Because, unfortunately, we were never separated for a long time."

"What do you mean 'unfortunately'?"

Uvuli chuckled as he slipped away.

"Where are you going? Hey! Get back here! I'm not done with you!" yelled Bidi. He had gotten away...for now.

Zazu arrived and the lionesses came out to see what all the commotion was about. As Zazu flew overhead he saw someone familiar, it was a caracal, what was his name? ... Uvuli! What was he doing here? Zazu flew in as stealthily as he could, but Uvuli saw him.

"Why, hello Zazu!" He said in a cheerful tone "How are you? It's been so long since I've seen you!"

Zazu looked at him with narrow eyes, "why have you returned? Didn't Mufasa give you sufficient warning the first time you came?"

Uvuli laghued, "I should thank him for that. Anyway, I am no fool Zazu, I know that Mufasa is dead, killed by Scar, his own brother. I did not think he would do it personally, but he needed some revenge on his father."

"Just how old are you?" Zazu had known that Uvuli was old, but old enough to remember Mufasa's father? It couldn't be...

"I never knew Mufasa's father, I just know that Scar wanted revenge on him for some reason or another. I also remember how you tasted..."

"Simba!" cried Zazu as Uvuli scooped him up in his paw and dangled him over his mouth.

"Uvuli! You don't know where that's been!" Bidi had caught up with Uvuli and Simba was not far behind with most of the pride in tow.

"Oh...I never really considered that," the more time he spent thinking about it, the more he grimaced until he threw Zazu aside like a diseased corpse.

"So...you two know each other?" asked Bidi.

"Yes, we've met before," replied Uvuli.

"He was spying on Mufasa, for Scar prior to your birth Simba." Said Zazu to Simba.

Simba looked at him, "What?"

"I got food and a safe place to sleep, even if it was only for one night," replied Uvuli with a shrug, "although, I didn't leave without some revenge on Mufasa's part."

"Your father tried to catch him after he tried to eat me, but only his claw caught him on the left leg, but that was enough to get him to spit me out before he limped away." Said Zazu to Simba.

"Even wounded, I managed to escape, never heard from Scar again though, that's what happens when you get caught." He sighed, "it was the only blemish on my perfect track record." Looking away in fake depair.

"You worked for Scar? Didn't you know what he was planning? He killed Mufasa and tried to kill Simba!" asked Nala.

"I didn't know exactly what he was planning, but I knew that he probably wanted the throne, didn't think he'd actually kill his own brother though...didn't strike me as the kind of lion who would do that," replied Uvuli. Everyone was staring at him and he looked as if this was a perfectly normal occurrence. "What?"

"How can you say that like it happens every day?"

Uvuli's cheerful face sobered instantly, "because it does. I have seen kings cast down by their own sons, nephews killed by their uncles, and vice versa. I, or one of the guild have usually some part in all this, however large or small. We do not take pride in it. It is simply all we know."

"You think you are better then them? Just because it is 'All you know'? You think that's an excuse?" demanded Zazu.

"No"

After this remark, everyone made their way back to begin their day. Uvuli, Bidi, and Kopa stayed. The silence between them was oppressive.

"Morning!" The call shattered the soul mood and everyone turned to see Kovu and Kiara approaching the group.

"Hi!" Bidi made her usual greeting to the couple, "I'm Bidi, and you are...?" She was glad for an excuse to forget what had just happened.

"He's Kovu, I'm Kiara" Kiara responded brightly. They were oblivious to the solemn mood that had been shattered by their arrival.

Uvuli glanced up to see them. _He is the splitting image of Scar. _"Are you the son of Taka?" Uvuli tried Scar's birth name to avoid an awkward situation if he wasn't.

"Who?" asked Kovu with a puzzled look on his face.

"Never mind" Uvuli said. _I guess not. _

Kovu, perplexed by the question asked, "So, who are you?"

"He's Uvuli, and that's Kopa." Bidi responded sprightly, gesturing to each in turn.

"Nice to meet you." Said Kiara. As she looked at them, she thought she recognized the male lion that was about the same age as Kovu.

"Have I met you before?" she asked Kopa.

Kopa looked at her and realized that he was looking at his little sister Kiara, she had yet to open her eyes when he had fled the pride lands because of Zira's plan.

Uvuli looked at Kopa expectantly, as if he already knew that this was his sister. Bidi waited patiently for the answer looking from Kiara to Kopa and back, as if she saw some connection.

Uvuli, tired of Kopa's hesitation, responded for him, "he's your brother."

Kovu looked at Uvuli, then Kopa and back in total confusion. Kiara just looked at Uvuli in shock and then looked at Kopa in stunned silence. Kopa looked at Uvuli with a mix of anger and relief, then turned his attention to Kiara, the sister he never knew.

"You have a brother?" Kovu asked Kiara.

Just as Kiara was about to respond, Zazu noticed the confusion, and came down from a perch overhead to answer Kovu's question, "yes, the prince was presumed dead after he disappeared and Zira confessed to killing him, that's why the outlanders were banished in the first place."

"Why didn't anyone tell me that I had a brother?" Kiara asked.

"Well...King Simba did not think it would be good for you if you had to live with the death of your brother hanging over your head. He was afraid you would become paranoid."

"He's the one who became paranoid," said Kovu.

"I am well aware" replied Zazu

As all this was happening, Uvuli had slipped away and was headed towards a place to think. _Where have I seen her before? _The thought had been bothering him since he had seen Nala. As he headed into the pride lands, he came across a large tree which he climbed into to think. As the light gathered he remembered he had been here before, at this time of day. He continued on this train of thought until it struck him. He had been ordered by a lion that he had owed a favor towards to escort his lover and her child back to pride rock. They had met on a hill just outside of the elephant graveyard. After a conversation, they had decided to name the child Nala. He had followed them back to pride rock where he had decided to take a rest in this tree. After that he had headed towards pride rock to see what he could find out. Then he had met Scar, or Taka, depending on whether you used his birth name or his chosen name.

He was woken from his musings by the sight of Kopa walking with a lioness. He knew that it was not Bidi or Kiara, so to find out, he listed to their conversation.

"Kopa, I was afraid as the rest that you were dead, why didn't you come back sooner?"

Kopa's eyes filled with sadness, "I was afraid that...that everyone would have forgotten me."

"Forgotten you?" she said, "How could anyone forget you? How could I forget you?"

"I know it was dumb...but I just...I don't know, Vitani." He looked into her eyes, searching for forgiveness in her gaze.

"At least you were alive. I was afraid that I had lost you to death from starvation after saving you from Zira."

_Vitani...nope, never heard of her. _Uvuli thought as he slipped away from the two so that they could have some privacy.


	10. Moon and Stars

One of my favorite chapters, it helped keep me with the story. I hope you like it too!

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Simba looked at the stars for guidance once more, and once again found none. He heard someone next to him; he turned and saw that it was Uvuli. As he looked he did not see the same caracal as that had come to pride rock that morning, it was undeniably Uvuli, but he was different, the moonlight reflected off his pelt bringing out the grey from the rest of his dark fur, his shoulders sagged with age and fatigue, his eyes were tired wary from watching the world, yet they were content, his soul battered by time and the path that fate had chosen for him. Still, he defied death...or maybe death denied him.

"Simba, you should listen to Nala more often." The image of Uvuli that Simba had seen just moments before had disappeared and was replaced by the Uvuli that had come this morning, "she can see people for who they are, not for the masks that they wear."

Simba knew what he was referring to, and he was right...but he had looked exactly like Scar. "You've been talking with her, haven't you?"

Uvuli chuckled, "Her and some others. I know the entire story; I just haven't heard it from you yet."

"If you got everyone, you've head the entire story. Sometimes I think they know me better than I do."

"More often then we know that is true." Uvuli looked at the sky, "Who are you seeking guidance from, Simba?"

"The Great kings of the past, who watch down on us from the stars."

"I am sure that they are there too."

"What do you mean?"

"The 'Great kings' are not the only ones, as you can see there are many stars in the sky and each of these stars represents one who has died." Uvuli's gaze became unfocused, "There are some stars that you cannot see except on the darkest of nights, when the moon hides its face from the world, they are those who did not let their souls shine forth in their life, and so in death they are often consumed by the darkness in which they lived."

Simba looked at the stars once more. So much had happened, Kopa, who was long thought dead, returned. He brought with him the issue of who would inherit the throne. So many questions filled his mind. Simba looked at Uvuli, only to realize that he was gone

As Uvuli slipped through the night, he looked up and saw a giant tree. He had heard that an old baboon named Rafiki lived there. As he climbed the tree, he came upon the spot where there were paintings on the wall. Each one of the seemed to resemble someone, there was Simba, Kovu, Kiara, and Kopa. All of the males had manes; however the one on Kopa was fresh.

"So you must be Uvuli." The voice came from above him in the tree; Uvuli looked up to see Rafiki looking at the sky.

"Does everyone here depend on the stars for guidance?"

Rafiki laughed, "No, I look to them now for beauty."

Uvuli took a look around the tree and saw a stick for rituals, fruits, and dried herbs. "You know, fresh herbs are better."

Rafiki came down from his perch, "I know, but I do not have ready access to fresh herbs."

"Really, why not?"

Rafici laughed, "Rafici lives in the middle of nowhere."

"True, but those herbs are going to fight back." He winced as the words left his lips.

Rafici looked at the ancient herbs that Uvuli had referred to, they were old, but Rafici had never gotten around to throwing them out. He looked at the caracal and he was looking to the sky.

Uvuli looked at the sky towards a single star that he knew far too well. It was true to its position night after night. "Lisha..." his eyes filled with tears. Sadness filled his heart as his mind returned to that night. The rain had mixed with his tears and blood as he looked at her dead body. The blood from the wound staining her pure white fur, her kind eyes shut forever. Then nothing but cold, cold hate. He knew who was responsible, and they would pay. No other thought had filled his mind until the morning of that night. Bidi's mother...why hadn't she hated the cold blooded killer of her entire pride? It was a question which he had searched for the answer to for so long.

Rafiki looked at him, and he realized just how cruel fate had been to Uvuli. He wanted death, but it would not take him. He had found love, only to have it ripped away. Why he let himself live was a mystery. "Who is Lisha?"

Uvuli's gaze never left the star he looked at. "The first one who did not hate what I was. I had assumed on a role which even those who used it did not trust. They all hated me or did not care. It was hard to tell which was worse."

"What of the one who trained you? Did he not care for his own apprentices?" Rafici had herd of the guild, and they were the only ones who would fit this description.

"He did not care, the only reason that he even knew my name was because he named me, and his other apprentice was...is a lunatic."

"Who are they?"

"Jini, a leopard who was apprenticed with me, takes far too much joy in killing his victims. Master was what we called the one who trained us; he tried to change that one flaw in Jini, but failed."

"Flaw? How can an assassin consider taking joy in their profession as a flaw?"

"One who can take life as fast as lightning should not enjoy using their abilities. None of them are assassins by choice; we were all abandoned or orphaned, then found by the guild."

"You do not know your mother and father?"

"I have none. None of us did. The closest thing we ever had to a parent was our master, who barley even cared if we lived or died."

"Who is this Lisha? Was she one of the others?"

Uvuli sighed, "No, she was not. She would have never survived such training. Her heart was too kind." He stared off in the sky and his eyes became unfocused, "your curiosity has led father into me than any other has gone. As for Lisha, she was the one I fell in love with. She had a pure white coat and red eyes, but her eyes were softer than any other eyes I have seen. She knew the healing properties of herbs that the master had neglected to teach me. And she loved me in return for my love. I was happy for the first time. I did not pursue my usual occupations. I had no need to do such things. I would gather herbs for her ands he would heal those that came to us for healing. All was well. But one of the pride leaders snapped and took action to break this delicate balance. Lisha was pregnant with my child we were happier than we had ever been before. He hired out Jini to kill us, thinking that we were some kind of threat to him, the fool. Jini came to where we lived and found only Lisha. He killed her. When I returned I found her dead. I felt cold; I wished that he had killed me too. Rage took over. I cannot remember what I did in detail, but I know the result. When I returned that morning I found a mother restraining a cub from nursing. She knew that she had been poisoned and she knew that it had been me. She did not hate. I felt such sorrow for killing her. She asked me to care for the cub, and I agreed, as soon as she heard this, she died. I took the cub to the neighboring pride and I gave her to them to care for until she could eat solid foods. We stated for a year. I took a job out on the pride that I had just killed. Then, when Bidi was older, she found Kopa. I raised them and taught them how to fight and hunt. One day Kopa decided to come home, Bidi followed him, and I followed Bidi."

"And here you are?" Asked Rafici.

"Pretty much," Uvuli looked at Rafici his eyes had assumed their usual look, "mind if I stay here?"


	11. Encounter

My first attempt at romance.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Kopa's mane felt soft and warm on her face, his sent filled her nostrils and brought her back to her happier cubhood...before they had been banished. It had been so long since she had talked to her childhood friend. She had seen him every day and night in her dreams, and now her dreams would come true. She was safe at last from the world. All was well, except for one thing that had nagged at the back of her mind, eating away at her happiness. Bidi. Did Kopa love her? She could not tell, if she asked she was afraid that he might say that he did. He would be angry at her if he said no, but she could not stand not knowing...

Kopa felt all warm and fuzzy inside. Vitani's sweet smell brought him back to his cubhood. How long ago it seemed. His mind traced his life back. He, Nuka, and Vitani played all day. One day he would be king, but he really didn't care. That was a long way off. Nala was pregnant with his little sibling, and he was nervosa and excited whenever he felt the young cub move in his mother's stomach. They had all been happy until Nuka had heard that Zira was going to kill Kopa he had run off to find him and told Kopa of Zira's plot. Kopa had fled in blind fear, he had run until he could not run any farther, and then he has seen Bidi's face through the fog. He felt a tear agents his neck and that snapped him back to the here and now. "Vitani?"

"What?" Vitani asked trying to control the emotion in her voice. She tried to wipe away the tear before Kopa noticed that she was crying.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She said trying to hide the sob in her voice.

"No, something is wrong, what is it? You can tell me anything," he nuzzled her. Her soft fur felt soft, after so long they were together again. The moon reflected off of her tear soaked eyes, making them gleam like diamonds.

"Nothing, it's just that...Bidi, never mind."

"You think I love Bidi, don't you?"

"No...I..."

"Vitani, Bidi is a sister to me, but you are more important than anyone else." He put his leg around her and drew her close to him so that their bodies touched and their fur blended together.

"I'm so happy your back." She said as she laid her tired head down on his paws.

He laid his head down on hers. She felt safe under him. Nothing could go wrong, not for this moment. They slept together under the stars. When the sun broke the horizon, Vitani was the first to wake. She felt Kopa's head her and smiled. Maybe, finally, she would find happiness like Kovu had.

"Awww...Aren't they cute?" The sudden mocking voice came from behind her. She and Kopa sprang up to face the newcomers. She was surprised when she did not see one of the other lionesses from the pride. It was a lioness, but not one that she recognized. "Who are you? Leave these pride lands at once!" Kopa demanded as he and Vitani growled at her.

"You are hardly the one to be making the demands" She said this as a several other lionesses came out of the brush and surrounded the two.

"What do we have here?" The deep voice came from a male lion that had just come up from behind the first lioness. He was followed by a leopard with a cruel look on his face.

"I believe it is two of the members of the lion pride of this area," said the leopard.

The male chuckled, "If the leader of this pride is so weak that he cannot even cast out his own males when they come of age, then we should have no trouble in taking this land for ourselves."

Vitani growled at the newcomer. The night was over, so now they had to fight.

"Deliver this message to you pride 'king'," the male said, "hand over half of his pride lands to me, or I will take all of them by force."

"Fine, so let us go." Kopa's mind was racing trying to find a way out without fighting.

"Jini," The male addressed the leopard, "how many lions does it take to deliver a message?"

Jini laughed and leaped at Vitani with blinding speed. A dark streak came out of the grass and slammed into Jini almost knocking him off balance. He and Uvuli gained their footing and stared at each other.

"Jini!" Uvuli's voice was cold as ice and sent chills down the spine of all present.

"Uvuli." Jini's voice was calm and at the same time filled with a joyful malice.

They began to crouch, their eyes never moving from each other, one waiting for the other to make a move.

Simba, Kovu, Bidi, and the rest of the pride came out of the grass.

"Deliver your message to me yourself," Simba's voice was cool and calm.

"Give me half of your pride lands, and I will leave you and your pride to yourselves."

"Never"

The pride formed behind Simba. They were easily twice the number of the opposing pride.

"Very well then, come we leave," he turned and started to leave, "Jini, come."

Jini and Uvuli had not moved.

"Uvuli?" Bidi asked tentatively as she approached the two.

"I kill one, so you get another? Is it truly that simple, Uvuli?" Jini asked with a cold smile.

"You will die for what you have done Jini. You should have killed me when you had the chance. The next time you have one, you will die as well."

Jini continued to smile, "I look forward to it, but I fear that the time is not now." Uvuli and Jini went to where their respective alliances stood facing each other. Kopa and Vitani had joined the rest of the pride.

The other pride left, but the tense atmosphere remained. "How did you find us?" Kopa asked.

"I had noticed you two out here last night, so I came to check on you this morning, and I saw those lions coming here. Then I went to pride rock and got these slowpokes here as fast as I could. It looks like we arrived not a moment too soon."

"Yeah, thanks" said Vitani. The initial shock had not yet worn off.

"What did those brutes want, anyway?" Asked Kovu.

"They want the pride lands, and they are planning to take them by force!" Vitani said franticly.

Bidi looked at Uvuli, "Who was that, Uvuli?"

Uvuli looked into Bidi's eyes, he could not lie to her, not when she looked at him like that, it was so much like the look that she had given him when she wanted to know the truth. "It was Jini, he is an assassin, we've have had some...conflicts before. He will most likely try to kill you Simba, unless this leader wants to demonstrate his..." Uvuli snickered, "machoness. But you know more of your kind than I do, so decide for yourself what he will do."

Simba looked at Uvuli, he could not believe that any lion would claim rights to a land that they had not even killed for and did not inherit by right of birth. Even Scar had gone through a lot to kill Mufasa, and in the end had done it himself. "He will try to kill me himself, so that he will be the undisputed ruler of these pride lands."

"Very well, but keep an eye on those close to you Simba, Jini likes to target the ones closest to your heart to hurt you the most, to weaken you and make you easy prey."


	12. Rain

My second attempt at romance. I like this one much better than my first.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Uvuli and Bidi carefully stalked an odd couple, a meerkat and a warthog. They seemed to be perfectly at home here, not careful for predators at all. Uvuli and Bidi moved slowly and silently, they had hunted together that they did not even need to communicate. As they struck, Zazu came down to talk to Timon and Pumbaa. Bidi skidded to a halt inches from a shocked Pumbaa and Uvuli leaped through the air and pinned down both Timon and Zazu. "So you know these two, Zazu?"

"Yes" Zazu managed to gargle out from under Uvuli's paw.

Uvuli looked at Timon, "should I let him up?"

Timon looked back at Uvuli and nodded.

Uvuli let a disheveled Zazu up, who gave Uvuli a piercing look.

"Don't get your feathers ruffled, Zazu. Who are these two?"

Timon had recovered from his initial shock, "were right here."

Uvuli looked at him, "so you can talk, eh?"

Bidi introduced herself to Pumbaa, "I'm Bidi, sorry about almost eating you, what's your name?"

"Pumbaa, and I suppose I should be getting used to it, your not the first to try to eat me, and probably won't be the last."

"He's Uvuli," said Bidi waving her tail in his direction, "How do you know Zazu?"

It was Timon who answered, "Pumbaa and I raised Simba when we found him in the wastelands."

"So we have something in common." Uvuli replied.

"You would have left Kopa to die if I hadn't been there!"

"I wouldn't have found him in the first place."

Bidi rolled her eyes and left. She was still hungry, and she was sure that Uvuli had come with her to get away from the pride. _Well...so did I, _she thought.

Bidi stalked the antelope herd and picked out the one she wanted. She was outside the pride lands, but it was the only was that she could get out on her own, she was gland to be among other lions, but there were so many of them. She was only used to the presence of Uvuli and Kopa. As she slowly crept on the antelope, a crash of thunder sent them running. She sighed, "Great, just great." The thunder signaled the coming of a rain and sure enough as she said this, a drop of rain fell on her snout. Bidi made her way to a nearby outcropping of rock up a hill to wait out the storm. She reached the sheltered area as the rain began to fall harder, and she lay down in a comfortable position and closed her eyes. The sound of the rain comforted her. As she let her mind wander, it went back to the night when she had found Hodari. This happened whenever she let her mind wander. She could not forget him, the sound of his voice, and the soft touch of his fur on hers when they had begun to gaze up at the stars.

"Bidi? Is that you?" The voice startled her out of her meditative state and she turned to see Hodari walking under the rock out of the rain, which had begun to fall harder.

"Hi 'Dari! What are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same question." He said as he lay down next to her. Even wet, his fur felt warm on her flank.

"I asked first."

"I was...uh..."

"Looking for me?"

"What! No! I was...hunting! Yes I was hunting...for..."

Bidi laughed and looked at him he had not changed one bit, he could not tell a good lie. He was so comforting, his presence was calming, like the eye of the storm. "Who is your father, 'Dari? I never really met any of the lions in the pride when Uvuli and I were there."

Hodari looked around nervously.

"You can tell me."

He looked at her. He could not lie to her, and he could not just leave her. He was filled with fear of what he was feeling; he was helpless in front of her. He could outrun her, kill her if he wanted to, but he couldn't. He did not know this feeling that was welling up inside of him. Her eyes calmed him. He could trust her, as she trusted him so many times. "I am the son of Katili, the leader of the pride that has invaded your pride's territory."

Your pride...the phrase still sounded strange. She hardly considered herself part of the pride, more like a guest there for an extended visit. If it wasn't for the fact that she had no idea what she would do without Uvuli or Kopa, she would have left by now.

"Bidi? Are you alright?" Hodari's voice broke through her musings.

"What? Oh...yeah, I'm fine"

Hodari started to leave with a sad look on his face.

"Where are you going, 'Dari?" Bidi said as she sprang to her feet and cut him off.

Hodari looked at her, "My father is the enemy of your pride, so you cannot be found with me or we will both be in danger."

"Why has this suddenly made you leave? You didn't seem concerned about it before."

"You weren't in danger before, so I wasn't worried, but now that you know you are in danger too."

Bidi looked at him for a moment, and then she licked him gently on the face. The rain had mixed with his sweat to make a salty layer on his skin. The smell of his mane filled her nostrils and relaxed her muscles.

Hodari didn't really know what to do. His mind was a haze, he couldn't focus, it was as if the felling of her tongue had completely removed all sense of order from his mind. He surrendered himself to instinct and feeling. She jumped on him like when they were cubs and they rolled down the hill together in the rain.

The rain stopped and the clouds moved on to reveal that the sun had set and the moon had come out to illuminate the night with her soft glow. Hodari and Bidi lay in each other's embrace, sleeping in total peace. They knew what they would do when they could leave, but each had a tie to their pride and family that they could not simply ignore. They would do all they could to resolve the conflict, and after they would leave together. They did not care where they would go, so long that they were together.

When the sun rose, Hodari was the first to wake. He looked at the sleeping Bidi. She was so beautiful, more beautiful than anything he had seen or experienced before. Was fate was cruel or kind; he could not decide which was worse, having an angel, only to have her ripped away, or to never know her. Both possibilities were too terrible to contemplate and at the thoughts his eyes filled with tears. It had been so long since he had cried. His father said that it was a sign of weakness, to cry. How could it be a sign of weakness to feel? Did his father know happiness? Had his father found an angel? No, he hadn't. Hodari knew this all too well. His father did not know how to love, he didn't even know feeling.

"'Dari?" Bidi's sweet voice came to him in his thoughts.

Hodari's face was streaked with tears. "What's wrong?" her voice was filled with concern for him. She could not bear to see him like this.

"Nothing." Hodari turned his eyes away from her. He could not tell a lie to her face, not when he could see her eyes.

"Something is wrong, don't worry, you can tell me." She moved closer so that her face was touching his mane.

"Bidi...We can't...I mean-"

"You are worried that we cannot be together because of who we owe allegiance to." She could see the feeling in his eyes, "don't worry so much, we will find a way to be together." She nuzzled him gently in the neck. His mane felt so soft on her skin, she wished that it would last forever, but she knew that it wouldn't, just like last time.

They stayed like this for some time, their eyes closed, losing themselves in each other's sent and touch. Hodari was the first to break away. Bidi did not resist, she knew that they would have to separate eventually. They nuzzled each other one last time before they separated. Neither looked back as they left. They knew that they could not leave each other if they looked back, and they knew that they had to leave each other one last time.


	13. Dawn

My first dabbling in the spirit world. My only question is simply whether or not I should write an origin story for Uvuli. Don't answer it yet, I will reveal more of Uvuli's past as we go along, just start thinking about it.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Kovu walked out to the end of pride rock. He looked out over the land that had been promised to him by all he had known. Scar, Zira, and Simba had only agreed on one thing: that he would one day become king of the pride lands. His thoughts turned to Kopa. He couldn't believe that he had a brother again, even if it was only through his relationship with Kiara, but what did this mean for the throne? Would Kopa take the position that he had been promised from birth, or would he and Kiara, who was pregnant, become King and Queen as they had been promised for so long? So many questions and no one to answer them.

"Kovu?"

He knew that voice as well as he knew Kiara's. It was Vitani.

"Kovu, what's wrong? Are you thinking about Nuka again?"

Kovu looked down, "No, I was just thinking about Kopa."

It dawned on Vitani what he was talking about; Kopa was a challenge to Kovu's and Kiara's claim to the throne. Kopa didn't seem to be worried about leadership over the pride lands, that couldn't be the reason he came back...could it? Her heart filled with doubt. Vitani looked at Kovu, if that was the only reason that Kopa had come back, then that would make him no better than Scar.

"Hi!" Vitani looked behind her to see Bidi coming up to them from the bottom of pride rock. Where had she been all night? "What are you talking about?" Her voice was softer as she saw Kovu.

"Nothing." Replied Kovu.

Vitani came up to Bidi and whispered, "He's worried that Kopa came back only to enforce his claim as king of the pride lands."

Bidi was amazed. The Kopa she knew would never even want to be a king. "Kopa wouldn't do that." She whispered back, picking up the message that Kovu was having a hard time, and direct denial of his worries would not solve the problem.

"I know, but Kovu barely knows him."

Bidi nodded. Kovu was about the same age as Kopa, but it was possible that Simba had kept them apart because of Kovu's connection to Scar. "How do you know Kopa?" she whispered.

Vitani blushed, how did she tell Bidi about Kopa's cubhood? "Well..."

Bidi looked her in the eye, "You love Kopa, don't you?"

"What? No!" Vitani whispered back.

Bidi just smiled back. Vitani knew that her lie had done nothing to convince Bidi, and she saw through it like a clear lake. Bidi went up to Kovu. "What's bothering you?"

Kovu looked up at Bidi. She was the one who had come back with Kopa. "Is Kopa just here to enforce his claim?" he was asking himself as much as Bidi.

Bidi looked back, "The Kopa I know wouldn't do anything like that."

Kovu knew that even if kingship was not Kopa's reason for returning, that it was still an issue. Vitani loved Kopa, and Bidi was like a sister to him, they couldn't understand how he felt. Kovu left them and left pride rock to go somewhere where he could think, alone.

He soon found himself by the water hole. As he came nearer, he saw Uvuli sitting next to a bush with bunches of white flowers on it. Even from here, the flowers smell was sweet and filled the air, drowning out all other smells. He approached Uvuli, who sat with his eyes closed, as Kovu looked he could almost swear that he saw another caracal, her fur was pure white, standing with her head under his chin, then the vision disappeared and Uvuli was left alone with Kovu. Uvuli's eyes opened, his mind returning to the world that he belonged. He looked at Kovu, who could see the quickly fading traces of sadness in his eyes. "Yes?"

Kovu was taken aback by Uvuli's harsh tone, and then he remembered that Uvuli was always like this. He wondered what had made him this way, he acted a little too much like Zera for Kovu to be fully comfortable around him, but the difference was that Uvuli cared, unlike Zera.

"What, can't you speak anymore?" Uvuli was fully back to his old self, criticizing tone and all.

"I...I just needed to get away." Kovu said for lack of anything else to say.

"I know the feeling." Uvuli muttered, he looked at Kovu, "is it that Kopa is a challenge to your and Kiara's claim to the throne?"

Kovu blinked, he knew that he should be happy that Kiara's brother was back, but he just couldn't make himself happy about it with the endless nagging at the back of his mind.

"Kopa has no interest at all to be king of anything, let alone the entire pride lands. He and Bidi stayed with me for as long as they did because they knew where they would go, and they didn't wat to go there. Bidi went with Kopa because she didn't want to be alone with her memories."

"Weren't you with them?"

"Yes, but I hardly count as company. I have lived in the past for too long as it is, and I am her biggest reminder of her past. Besides, I'm asleep half of the time."

Kovu smiled, "Yeah, what would she do, anyway?" he said nudging the caracal with his paw.

"Don't know, when she was a cub, she and Kopa constantly tried to ambush me, and they failed constantly."

Kovu blinked, "Bidi, heard? I don't know if that's possible." Bidi had proven herself to be a master of stealth numerous times.

Uvuli chuckled, "Oh, it's possible, not as easy as it used to be, but it's possible." As he said this he ducked and Bidi went sailing over his head and straight into the water hole. Kovu stared in total shock at the very wet Bidi.

"I thought I had you that time!" She exclaimed.

Kovu turned to see where sounds of stifled laughter were coming from the bushes, he dropped down low and carefully approached the bushes as Bidi and Uvuli argued over whether or not he had eyes in the back of his head. He leaped and plowed straight into Kiara and Vitani, who were barely preventing themselves from bursting into laughter at the sight of Bidi and Uvuli. "What the..." he said as he came crashing into the two lionesses.

It was too much for the pair, they were totally overcome with laughter as Kovu got to his feet with a smile playing over his face. Bidi and Uvuli came to see what the racket was about.

"You should have seen the look on you face!" Kiara said to Kovu through her laughter.

Bidi shook herself off, splattering everyone with water. "Sorry..." she muttered as Uvuli gave her a scornful look, the others were having too much fun to care.

"Lighten up, would you!" Vitani said to Uvuli with a broad smile.

The group made their way back to pride rock. Vitani bounded over to Kopa and they touched noses in greeting, Kiara and Kovu walked off together, their tails intertwined leaving Uvuli and Bidi alone. Bidi looked around, feeling lost "I'm going to go hunt..." she murmured as she trotted toward the savanna. Uvuli could tell that her good mood had left and she wanted to be sad alone. She was the only one who didn't have someone to come back to. Bidi felt as if she always had to be happy around others. Uvuli sighed and started to head around the base of pride rock. He came upon a cave, he was about to head on when he thought he heard something was coming form the cave. As he walked over it seemed that the cave was calling to him, the voice was unearthly, almost as if he could only hear it in his mind. As he entered the voice came to a stop and he found himself in what was probably the living space of someone long ago, the cave walls seemed to have stories written in them, as if they had remembered everything that had passed into them since the beginning of time, and here was someone who could and would listen to their story. Uvuli closed his eyes and let his mind wander around the cave. He was no stranger to communicating with the dead.

_"So you can hear us."_ In life, the voice was deep and rumbling. Uvuli opened his mind's eye to see an endless sea of eyes of all colors staring at him. A huge lion came out of the shadows, followed by his mate.

_"We are Ahadi and Uru." _The voice was gentile and soothed the ears.

"I am Uvuli. I assume that you are the parents of Mufasa and Taka?"

_"Yes, I am the father of Mufasa and Scar." _Ahadi answered.

Uvuli could think of a few choice words that he would like to throw at Ahadi, he refused to call his own son by his birth name. He cast out his mind to see if he could find a presence that he knew a bit better, Taka and Lisha were not there, but Mufasa was.

_"How could you guess?" _Uru asked, smiling.

"You and he have the same eyes." Mufasa would not come; he was too preoccupied with his son to concern himself with a caracal that he had met once. Just as well, Uvuli was sure that the meeting would not be too friendly.

_"How did you know him?" _Uvuli's mind's eye lost sight of Ahadi, but not Uru.

"He and I had an arrangement."

Uru's eyes filled with sadness, as Uvuli was about to speak, a voice from the world of the living broke through his meditative state; the images of the dead were wiped from his mind.

"Uvuli?" It was Nala.

"Yes?" Uvuli's tone was steady and did not reveal any emotion.

Nala gave him a look that would have sent most lions running for cover, but Uvuli stared her straight back in the eyes. "I thought I heard something down here, but I suppose it was nothing."

"You should get your hearing checked." _Was I talking out loud? _He thought. His mind's activity lowered his mask of nothingness slightly for only a moment.

Nala looked at him. He was so arrogant, he made her blood boil. Not even Scar had been able to make her this angry. She wanted nothing more that to wipe that look from his face, how could Bidi possibly deal with him? She noticed that his expression changed slightly from a look of dull interest into true interest, was he actually concerned about her well being, or was he trying to remember something? She couldn't tell what was going through his mind at any moment, but she knew more about what he was thinking now than any other time she had talked to him. The fur on the back of her neck, which had risen without her knowing, slowly lowered back into place.

"Nala, was it? Aren't you Sarafina's daughter?"

"Yes," Nala looked at him in surprise; she hadn't told him her name, so how did he know it? More importantly, how did he know her mother? "How do you know who I am?"

Uvuli blinked, and then he realized that he hadn't spoken to her before, as was the case with most of the pride. He wasn't used to so many others around him. His mind raced, looking for a convincing lie, "Kiara told me."

Nala looked at him, she could tell that he was lying through his teeth, "Really, When did she do that?" Her voice was filled with amusement.

Uvuli knew that she knew it was a lie as soon as it left his mouth. He sighed, he would have to tell her the truth, the only question was where to start...

Nala looked at him with new eyes, his shield of unconcern was gone, and she saw him thinking of what to say. His eyes seemed to be looking elsewhere as he began to speak, "I knew your father."

Nala stared at him in disbelief, her father? Thousands of questions came to her mind as an old curiosity was revived, what was her father's name? What was he like? Where was he from? So many questions filled her mind that she couldn't speak, and stared at him in dumfounded disbelief.

"Close your mouth, would you?" Uvuli's sharp tone tore through her confused mind like a claw through a leaf. He sighed and began to weave a tale in a fascinating way that kept you gripped from beginning to end. He began with the tale of how he and her father had met, he had fallen into ill favor with a hyena clan, and her father had saved him from their revenge. Revenge of what he did not say. Her father had told him little, and he did not know his name, but he did know his life. He had fallen in love with a lioness from a nearby pride, and she had become pregnant. Unable to care for a pregnant lioness, he had taken her to the pride and they had taken her in. Now he and his love were going to meet one last time, so that he could see his child at least once before he died. He could not take her back to her pride, so he had asked Uvuli to escort her back, unseen and unheard. Uvuli had agreed and had taken them back. It was there that he heard Nala's name. When he had brought her back to pride rock safely, he had spent the night in a tree. The next morning he was found by a lion who called Scar. Uvuli had managed to pry the birth name of Scar from one of the lionesses in the pride named Sarabi, who also told him of Scar's troubled childhood and his relationship with his father, Ahadi. Scar's birth name was Taka, and he had never told Scar that he knew his birth name, but agreed to help Scar with a little favor; in return, Scar would settle his disagreement with hyena clan. The favor was to spy on Scar's brother Mufasa, Uvuli guessed that Scar planned to take the throne, but had not expected him to kill Mufasa, especially after he saw Mufasa. The last time that Uvuli had seen Taka and Mufasa together, He could tell that Taka was not looking at his brother, but his father. Later, he had seen Zazu, and decided to have a snack. As he caught Zazu, he was attacked by Mufasa, who had raked his across his thigh with one claw, leaving a deep wound that had damaged the muscle. Even in an injured state, Uvuli had managed to escape Mufasa to the border of the pride lands, where Mufasa had left him alone.

Nala stared at the caracal as he finished telling his story. He gently swatted her nose with his paw and she jerked up, her mind absorbing what she had just heard. "I...I've never heard Scar's story told that way before..."

"There are always at least two sides to every story, but mine is probably incomplete, I had to drag much of Taka's life from Sarabi, how is she?"

Nala's face fell, "she's dead..."

"Oh," Uvuli looked calm at the news and attempted to comfort Nala by placing a paw on her leg. They left the cave together. Nala introduced Uvuli to Sarafina, and left them to discuss her father. She went over to Simba who sat on Pride rock overlooking his pride. He was looking in particular at Kopa and Vitani.

"Are you still worried about him?" she asked teasingly.

"Yes..."Simba looked at Nala her cheerful face seemed to bring the world to life again, "Nala, I don't know how I could go on without you...Don't leave me..."

Nala came close to Simba and intertwined her tail with his. "I won't ever leave you Simba, not even death could come between us."

Uvuli looked out at them with Sarafina, "Let's hope that she does not have to put her promise into action anytime soon..."

Sarafina looked at Uvuli and poked him with her paw, "I suppose it's not too late to give you a formal thanks for getting us back that night."

"I didn't do anything."

"You were there, that's enough for me."


	14. The River

Short and not so sweet.

I would like comments on the style, there is no or little dialogue. This pops up in the story here and there, dispersed between chapters. I would like a little feedback on it, and don't worry, it will come up again. Please comment.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Bidi looked at the antelope herd with a bored expression on her face, she wasn't that hungry. She turned and saw a bird sitting next to some bushes, and she decided to catch it for a snack. She carefully crept toward her chosen prey. The bird was mid-sized and was preoccupied with eating berries. She ran at the bird, when it took off she launched herself at it, and missed. Snarling in annoyance, she realized that she hadn't hit the ground and looked to see that a cliff was just beyond the bushes. She stared in horror at the river blow her; it seemed an eternity before slammed into the water. She might as well of slammed into a rock. She couldn't breathe. She struggled to get to the surface. The strong current pulled her downstream; her head surfaced just long enough to get a teasing taste of air, but was dragged back down by the current. As she struggled to get to the surface once more, she was slammed into a huge rock in the river. The wind was knocked from her lungs and she instinctively tried to breathe, but found no air. Her mind became foggy as her lunges filled with water. Her life did not flash before her eyes, she was vaguely aware as she slipped downstream, before her mind went dark.


	15. Shattered

Now for the shock wave. The only point to the end is to get Uvuli in the right place later, and it's a bit creepy.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Uvuli awoke to find that Bidi still had not returned. He was not particularly concerned that she was gone; she had gone out on her own before. He left the cave to find Zazu giving Sumba the morning report. Simba and Zazu had very concerned looks on their faces as he approached. "What is it?" Uvuli asked.

Simba looked around nervously. Zazu took a deep breath, and put his wing on Uvuli's shoulder, "A friend of mine saw a lioness matching Bidi's description."

Uvuli was starting to get worried. "And? She's out? What's so strange about that?"

Zazu felt every muscle grow tense as Uvuli said this. "She fell off a cliff, into the gorge, and disappeared into the river.

Uvuli's face was filled with shock and disbelief, as the news set in, his features lost all remnants of any emotion, the light of life that had filled his eyes faded into nothing, he looked like an empty shell. Zazu watched as Uvuli walked off aimlessly, caring nothing for all those around him. Kopa saw the caracal and ran to Zazu.

"What happened?" Kopa listened as Zazu told Kopa what he had told Uvuli. He could not speak, he felt a warm presence beside him, and looked to see Vitani looking at him sadly. Zazu murmured something about telling the others, and flew off. Simba looked off after him; he turned to Kopa and Vitani. Vitani looked at Simba and shook her head, now was not the time for words.

She went with Kopa to the watering hole where they had last seen her. He lay down next to the water and stared at his reflection, Vitani lay next to him, "Kopa?" her voice was as gentle as she had ever been before, at the sound of his name, Kopa burst into tears and buried his face in his paws, Vitani put her tail on top of his, and laid her head on top of his. "Why? Why?" were the only words he spoke through his sobs. Only then did Vitani realize how close they had been. Her mind returned to the day when Nuka had died, how she had felt, but there had been no one to comfort her, no time to mourn him. She closed her eyes and let the tears that had been held back for so long flow. They were all that they had left.

Sarafina sought out Uvuli as soon as she heard the news. She did not know what she would say, if anything, just being there would be of help to him. She was about to look in the cave when she saw something she thought she would never see again. The hyenas were back.

Simba looked at the small band of about a dozen hyenas slowly struggle its way across the pride lands towards pride rock. He recognized the one in the lead as Banzi, on his back he carried Shenzi, who was unconscious. Ed was nowhere to be seen. As the hyenas approached pride rock, all of the lionesses turned out to look at them. None of them growled, there was no point on it, the clan was battered and bruised, Banzi was in the worst shape, but he somehow carried on in front with his burden. At last he reached the base of the outcropping of rock that formed pride rock. "Why are you here?" Simba's voice was commanding, not like the adolescent that had thrown Scar off the cliff, more like his father, Mufasa. The name sent chills down Banzi's spine, but now was not the time for fear.

"We cannot go anywhere else."

Simba looked down on the hyenas. Sarafina came to take a closer look. During Simba's fight with Scar, the hyena's numbers were greatly reduced in the fire that had broken out, and after Scar's death they had disappeared. When she last saw them, there were well over a hundred of them, now there was only twenty left. Each one was scarred and there were no hyena pups with them. "Why are you here?" Simba asked again.

Banzi placed Shenzi's limp body on the ground. Sarafina could barely see the rise and fall of her chest. He returned his gaze to Simba, "we were driven out of our homes and nearly all of us were killed by a new lion pride that had come. What you see here is all that is left of our clan."

Sarafina looked in shock at Banzi. This was all that was left of their clan? Was it possible? Had one pride truly killed nearly an entire clan of hyenas, none of the lions were too fond of hyenas, but merciless slaughter of an entire clan? Sarafina could only wonder at the cruelty of the lion pride that had moved in.

Simba look at Banzi with a look softened by sadness, but still firm. "What do you want us to do about it?"

At his comment one of the hyenas sprang to his feet, "do about it? Our entire clan was killed! We-"

Banzi held up a paw to silence the hyena. He gave Simba a dark look and returned to his place. "We merely seek a place to sleep without fear of being killed."

This time it was one of the lionesses that spoke, "just like last time? I suppose you want us to feed you too?" Simba cast her a commanding look and she closed her mouth.

"We can provide for ourselves, we only wish to survive."

Sarafina looked around once more and saw Uvuli sitting on a rock. She had no idea when he got there, but he was listening to the conversation intently. "You are in no shape to take care of yourselves."

Simba and Banzi looked at him in shock; apparently they had not noticed him either. What's wrong with her?" he asked gesturing to Shanzi.

"She was hurt when we were attacked."

"Hurt? More like fatally wounded. Bring her to the cave at the base of pride rock, I can care for her there."

A lioness turned to him, an angry look on her face. Uvuli cast her a look that would have frozen water and she silenced herself without a word. "As for the rest of you, go find something to eat." He said to the rest of hyenas

Banzi picked up his burden, and started to follow Uvuli, when Simba turned to speak to him, Uvuli spoke first without looking, "we can discuss other arrangements later, Simba, in the meantime, you outnumber the hyenas, I think your safe from any attack."

Sarafina followed Uvuli and Banzi to the cave where Nala had found him when he first came here, since then he had made a nest here, though he spent most nights with Rafici in his tree.

Banzi placed the wounded Shenzi in the nest and Uvuli went about the task of taking herbs from places in the cave that most would never notice, "go get something to eat, there is nothing you can do here."

Banzi nodded and gave Shenzi a nuzzle before leaving the cave and nearly walking straight into Sarafina, mumbling an apology, he began to walk off towards the savanna.

"Do you want some help?"

He stopped and turned to see who it was, "Oh, hi Sarafina."

"Hi? That's it?" She walked over to Banzi. When Scar was king she had taken the time to get to know some of the nicer hyenas, Shenzi, Banzi, and Ed were the only three. Mostly Shenzi and Banzi, Ed just tagged along, he wasn't smart enough to be mean. Shenzi had earned some respect among the lionesses because she was the only hyena with the guts to talk back to Scar, something even the lionesses didn't often do. Anyone with experience in the matter could see that Banzi and Shenzi were in love, but neither would admit it. Ed was, well, Ed. They were the closest she had ever come to having friends who were hyenas.

Banzi looked glum as he let her follow him. "don't worry she'll be alright, Uvuli is more than capable."

"Why did he help us?"

"Probably because he has no conflict with you." _And because he needs something to take his mind off Bidi. _She added silently. Banzi nodded. He was depressed, and rightly so, she nearly shuddered at the thought of losing her entire pride in one fell swoop, as he had lost his clan.

"So, where's Ed?" She asked.

"He's dead."

Sarafina realized just how much Banzi and the other hyenas had lost, she knew that the hyenas would have would have come to pride rock as a last resort, but this was the point at which they had reached their last resort?

She and Banzi hunted in oppressive silence. Sarafina soon brought down a gazelle, but Banzi was too worried to focus enough to catch one. As he walked off, Sarafina called after him, "don't you want some?"

He turned a spark of life in his eyes, the sight relaxed Sarafina, it had been too long since she had seen someone with that look in their eyes. She and Banzi ate the gazelle, and discussed humorous times of Scar's reign.

They returned to pride rock as twilight had begun to set in, the hyenas were sleeping a little ways off near the cave where Uvuli was taking care of Shenzi, banzi said goodbye to Sarafina and took some of the leftover gazelle to Uvuli before settling down for the night. Simba walked over to her, "they haven't caused any trouble at all." He said, obviously surprised.

"They're not all bad, as your father thought, just as not all lions are good."

Simba nodded, "have you seen Kopa? He and Vitani disappeared early this morning, when the news about Bidi arrived."

Sarafina almost snorted, it was obvious to her that the two liked each other, but Simba's concern kept her from blowing him off, "no, I'm sorry, Simba, I haven't."

He looked down at the cave where Uvuli was, "I don't know what to do about his little outburst, it's not like I can control him."

"If you could control Uvuli, you shouldn't just be the king of the pride lands; you should be the king of the winds, storms, migrations and seasons. He's a force of nature." Sarafina responded.

Simba sighed as Nala walked over. Her stomach was slightly larger with the cubs that she was carrying. "Hi mom," she said to Sarafina. Nala looked at Simba, "Simba what's wrong, are you worried about Kopa and Vitani again?"

For a moment Sarafina could have sworn that it was Sarabi who had spoken, Nala was so like her.

"I told you, they'll be fine, come on it's been a long day." Nala led Simba off towards the cave where the pride slept. It had been a long day, and Sarafina began to feel tired, and went to the cave for the night. As she curled up, she felt as if something was wrong, but it was probably nothing.

As she drifted into sleep Uvuli sat on the end of pride rock. The whispers had begun again, and this time they were telling of what was coming, not what had been. He could distinguish nothing from the moaning chorus.


	16. Sunset

Wrapping up a few loose ends. I know what I want to do now, and will stop making desperate attempts to move the story forward. :)

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

As the sun rose in the horizon, Kopa's sobs slowly came to a stop, the pain had not gone, it was just that he had started to get used to the fact that the ever present laughter that was Bidi was gone forever. Vitani thought back to her own cubhood with Kovu and Nuka. Nuka had always gotten in trouble whenever Kovu wandered off, but they were brothers, and Nuka loved him all the same. As Kovu and Vitani had grown, Nuka had remained the same size, to the point that it was decided that he was a runt, and that he wouldn't grow anymore, even Vitani was larger that the scrawny Nuka with his perpetual termites. When he had died, it was the first time Vitani had ever seen her mother care about Nuka, in her rage she had struck out at Kovu, who was left with a scar tat matched Scar's. Vitani knew then that her mother had gone truly and totally mad. Her mother was still alive somewhere, but no one could know what she was doing, if anything. Kopa began to get up and he and Vitani left the watering hole around midday. They walked around the pride lands together, talking about whatever came to mind. When they started back, the sun had begun to sink below the horizon.

When they returned to pride rock, the moon had begun its travel across the sky, and Kopa and Vitani were ready to sleep. As they headed to the cave they caught a whiff of a smell that was all too familiar, hyenas. Fatigue forgotten, they crept slowly around pride rock to see where the hyenas were. When they came aroud the edge, they saw a dozen hyenas sleeping near the entrance to Uvuli's cave. As Kopa was about to leap into the group of sleeping hyenas to save his friend, he heard a voice that was not Vitani's behind him. "Oh, there you two are."

Kopa spun to see Uvuli walking calmly over to his cave, "hyenas are here!' Vitani hissed at him when he came within earshot.

"I know; they came here this morning, after you two left, and asked for a place to sleep. I am taking care of Shenzi, their leader. They are far from a battle ready force; you two could defeat them with relative ease."

"What happened to the rest of the clan?" Asked Kopa, remembering the hundred plus hyenas that had lived in the elephant graveyard when he was a cub.

"Killed by the newcomers."

Kopa and Vitani stared in amazement at him, they had never liked the hyenas, but merciless slaughter had never crossed their mind.

Uvuli looked at them, "go and get some sleep, you've been through a lot today." Uvuli walked around them and made his way to the cave where he slept.

_So have you, _thought Vitani. She followed Kopa to the cave, and lay next to him, her face near his mane. His sent brought her mind to happier days, and she slept soundly that night, warmed by Kopa's body.


	17. Not Yet

You didn't think I would leave Bidi dead, did you? Warning: flood of new characters. And yes, I do know it's not a novel idea, you'll know what I'm talking about soon enough.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

A ragged cough racked her body as she hacked up more water, she felt heavy, and continued to cough up water, as she was about to begin breathing normally again Bidi wretched up more water. Finally, she lay gasping for air on the ground. She was cold and wet, at least now she knew that she was alive. She opened her eyes and saw herself surrounded by unfamiliar surroundings. In the distance, she saw a jungle downstream. "So, you're alive, eh?"

Bidi tried to sit up to see who spoke but collapsed to the ground.

"Don't try, you're too weak from you experience. Didn't anyone ever tell you to look before you leap?"

When Bidi tried to speak, she coughed up more water; she felt a warm paw on her flank. "Hush, my little child, let you dreams take wing, you are safe here."

The voice was calm and reassuring, Bidi closed her eyes and sank into a sleep that was untroubled by anything, even dreams.

When Bidi awoke she felt better, if a little bloated. She sat up stiffly, her fur was still wet. As she looked around she realized that she was alone. She was exhausted; her mind was dull from fatigue. She began licking the water out of her fur. "It's about time you woke up."

Bidi looked around, whoever had spoken sounded exactly like Uvuli, and they had the exact same tone to their voice. She saw a large lioness with red eyes and a dark stripe running from halfway up her face all the way down her back. "Well? Can't you speak?"

"Hmm...Do you know a caracal by the name of Uvuli?"

"No. Why?" Her question was shot out in a sharp tone. Bidi struggled not to roll her eyes, she was acting so much like him, and she said she didn't know him.

"You two are just so alike, I thought you had met sometime." As Bidi thought about this, she realized that if the two did meet, they would be clawing each other to ribbons in seconds.

"Who are you?"

"Bidi, and you are?"

"Zera," Zera looked at the lioness, surely if she was from Simba's pride, she would recognize her, and she was old enough to have participated in the fight between the prides.

"You look as if I should know you."

Zera blinked, How could she have known what she was thinking? Was it really that obvious? "Well I would expect Simba to never let you lionesses forget me!" Zera growled fiercely In reply.

"Geez, calm down, would you? I haven't been a part of his pride for long."

"Oh, really? How did you meet him?" Zera was curious now, could this mean that Simba's pride was shrinking, if so, then Katili would want to attack him, and she could finally repay Simba for all that he had done to her.

"I returned with Kopa."

"Kopa? He's dead!"

"He was pretty alive when I saw him earlier today."

"Zera! Katili wants to talk to you!"

Zera gritted her teeth; Hodari had the worst timing of any lion she had ever met.

"'Dari!? Is that you!?"

Zera looked up to see that Bidi's eyes were aglow with the prospect of seeing Hodari. "How do you know Hodari?"

"I met him when we were cubs." Bidi jumped up as a surprised Hodari came into sight, she tried to run over to him, but her still weakened body slipped and she fell to the ground. Hodari ran over to her.

"Bidi! Are you alright? How did you get here? What-"

"It's nice to see you too 'Dari." Bidi said weakly with a smile.

As Zera looked at them, her mind returned to when she and Scar were cubs. As her mind turned towards these memories, her heart felt a stab of pain, she would never see him again, and all because of that so-called Simba look-alike and that traitor Nala. She had seen Nala after Simba's death, and had felt for the poor child, she and Simba were in love, whether they knew it or not, and the news of his death must have been hard for her. When she was grown, she left without telling anyone, not even Sarafina. Then, she had returned with that rouge Simba look-alike. Whether or not Nala believed that the look-alike was actually Simba in question, her torn heart may have not been able to take the disappointment of hearing it was not Simba when she met him. That's why she had told Vitani to kill Nala when they took the pride lands, so she did not have to see Simba die again, the poor girl.

"Zera?"

Her reminisce was broken by Hodari's voice, "thank you. I don't know what I would do if something happened to Bidi."

Zera nodded, "well, she's not going anywhere anytime soon."

Bidi opened her mouth in protest, but was overtaken by another fit of coughing as more water was ejected from her body.Hodari looked at her with concern that would have never appeared in his father's eyes.

"Your lungs are still filled with water, so stop trying." Zera snapped. "Hodari, you said Katili wants to talk to me, why?"

"Right," Hodari turned to face Zera, "well...he didn't say..."

Zera's eyes were ablaze with anger, "That upstart, egocentric..." her voice trailed off mumbling insults under her breath, "he doesn't even have the decency to tell me what he wants. Well," She sat down, "tell him that if he wants to talk, he can come to me."

"No need." The rumbling voice came from a huge lion that shouldered his way through the brush, "I am here."

"So? What do you want this time?" Zera snapped.

"I sent my son to get you-"

"I would have never guessed." Zera said, rolling her eyes.

"I sent him to get you to come and help one of our lionesses give birth."

"Fine," she turned to Hodari, "you stay here and keep an eye on her," she turned to Katili, "well? What are you waiting for? Get going! We don't have all day!"

Katili calmly lead Zera out of the clearing. "Your father has some self control; Uvuli would have clawed her ears off for that!" Bidi said in an amazed tone.

"She's always been like that, ever since we found her here." He felt a wet muzzle on his neck.

"I have to remember to thank her for leaving us alone."

Hodari lay down next to her, warming her cold and wet body with his own.


	18. The Other Pride

Lots of new characters. Please tell me if you don't get something, I'll do my best to clear it up. I know all of the background, so I may have put in stuff that is not mentioned.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Nuru looked up to see Hodari and another figure approaching from across the plains. "Who do you think that is with Hodari?"

"I don't have any idea," Nuru said to her twin sister, Geza. They looked the same, but each was as different from the other as night is to day. Nuru was a kind and gentile creature, with distaste for fights and arguments, that job was taken by her sister, Giza. The sisters always knew what the other was thinking and they would not, or could not keep a secret from each other, and they were rarely apart. Giza squinted to see if she could tell who the lioness with Hodari was. She stood up in surprise.

"Who is it?" asked Nuru

"I...I think it's Bidi," Nuru stared at her sister in disbelief, but when she looked she saw that her sister was not mistaken. She sprang to her feet and the twins went sprinting over to their cubhood friend.

Bidi saw two familiar gray shapes moving towards them at matched pace. "Nuru! Giza!" She ran up to them and the three stood laughing as Hodari approached.

"It's been so long since you left! We didn't think we would ever see you again!" Giza paused, "Where's Uvuli?" She remembered the caracal who had told them stories whenever they wanted him to. He always had a story to tell, and sometimes, their parents would stop to listen to Uvuli weave simple words into pictures of lands that were real, yet at the same time, impossible. All of the cubs were sad to see him and Bidi leave, and, event though they would never admit it, some of the older lions were sad to see him go too.

Bidi's face fell "I...I don't know where he is..." She told them the story of how she had fallen off the cliff into the gorge and was saved by Zera.

"You jumped off the cliff?" asked Geza in disbelief.

Nuru cuffed her around the ears. "How do you plan to get back?" She asked Bidi.

"I don't know."

"Do you know how Uvuli will take it? He was always really close to you." Asked Geza.

Bidi shuddered at the thought of Uvuli hearing the news. He was like a father to her, much more than any lion had been, she didn't know how he would deal with the loss.

Nuru saw the look on Bidi's face and quickly changed the subject, "Lili is having cubs." Lili was the daughter of one of the lionesses who had mated with a rouge named Ni.

"Whose are they?" Said Bidi, who was glad for the distraction.

"Guess." Said Geza dryly.

"Mazin?!" Bidi stared in disbelief at Geza. Mazin was Nuru's and Geza's brother, but looked nothing like the twins.

"Yeah, that's why Zera had to come." Nuru said excitedly.

"What are you three talking about?" Growled Zera.

"Oh! Zera! Well, uh..."

Zera rolled her eyes at Nuru, "a font of information as always, Nuru."

"Are Lili's cubs alright?" Asked Bidi.

"Yes, they're fine, all three of them." Said Zera.

"Three? She had three? Mazin must be very happy." Said Nuru.

"His head has inflated to twice its normal size." Said Zera dryly.

Hodari stood off to one side becoming more and more uncomfortable. He noticed Mazin walking around with a huge grin on his face and decided to leave to congratulate him.

"Mazin!" He turned to see who had called, "congratulations!" said Hodari as he sat next to his friend. Zera had not been exaggerating when she had described how proud Mazin was.

"Thank you, Hodari," Said Mazin, "I heard that Bidi is with you."

Hodari blinked at Mazin.

"Zera mentioned that she had fished her out of the water." He said seeing the look on Hodari's face. Mazin looked over Hodari's shoulder to see the three girls talking with Zera. "Just like old times, eh? Where's Uvuli? Is he..."

Hodari smiled at his friend, "No, he's alive, but he doesn't know Bidi is." Hodari said sadly.

Mazin thought about the short-tempered, yet somehow kind caracal that he had known as a cub. "He's not gonna take it too well..."

"I know, and neither is she," He looked over his shoulder at Bidi. The setting sun glinted off her fur, giving it a glow.

Mazin chuckled and nudged his friend, "so when are you two getting together?"

Hodari looked at him, surprised.

"You think we didn't know? You two were a package when you were cubs. You took them leaving harder than anyone else," Mazin's face grew grim for a moment, "I didn't think we would see either of them again...guess I underestimated Uvuli." His face returned to its normal, cheerful medium. "Well, I guess I should go say hi to her."

As he said this, Zera and the girls were heading towards them. "Well, good evening Bidi, it's only been," he paused for comic effect, "most of our life?"

"Yet, you haven't changed a bit, Mazin. I would have thought that you would have matured a bit in the head."

"Good luck with that." Giza and Zera muttered.

Mazin pretended not to hear them, "so how have you been, Bidi?"

Even as he said this, Katili approached, his huge form moving silently. As he approached, Bidi noticed Jini walking next to him.

"What is she doing here?" He growled, his tail flicking towards Bidi.

"She is obviously visiting some old friends," replied Zera, her voice was cold and calm.

"I never said she could come."

"You never said she couldn't." Zera's eyes blazed with defiance.

Katili stared back, his blank expression unreadable. "She may stay, but she must have Jini with her when she is here. Also, she will stay with you, Zera." As he walked away, he nodded to the leopard.

"Well, I guess you're stuck with me." He said, his eyes glittering. Something about them sent a chill down Bidi's spine. She still remembered Uvuli's face when he had met the leopard, it had been filled with an ancient hate. Every inch of Jini's expression was an unnatural glee.


	19. Night

Random scene. Felt like I needed to say something about Shenzi.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Shenzi was tired of being stuck on the ground. She wasn't able to walk yet, that much she knew, and the caracal that was treating her hardly seemed sane. Whenever he wasn't sleeping, gathering herbs, or giving her herbs, he was endlessly organizing herbs that were as organized as anything she had ever seen. They were organized by usefulness and properties. The highlight of her day was when Banzi or Sarafina brought some food, that's when she could talk to someone.

"What is wrong with him?" Shenzi asked Sarafina on day when she brought her and Uvuli some food.

"The closest thing he ever had to a child, a lioness named Bidi, died recently, fell into the gorge and was washed away by the river," replied Sarafina.

Shenzi nodded, no wonder he was always doing something. He needed to do something to take his mind off her.

Shenzi awoke one night to sounds of moaning coming from nearby. She opened her eyes to see Uvuli shifting in his sleep, covered in cold sweat. _He's having a nightmare... _Shenzi poked him with her paw so he woke up, from what Sarafina had told her, she could guess what he was dreaming about, but questioned whether it was right of her to wake him, so that he could find that his nightmare had come true.

Uvuli shot awake, his eyes wide with fear. It was the first time Shenzi had seen any emotion in him. He relaxed as his mind returned to the world of the wake. He looked at Shenzi who realized that her face was filled with concern. For a moment, she could have sworn that she had seen compassion in his eyes, a glimpse of what was once Uvuli, she did not know when or how it could have been, but she knew in that moment that Uvuli had been different for a time, when the world had melted away from him and the darkness that covered his heart was shattered by one who he had loved. It was not Bidi, this was not something that a child had put in his heart, it was a love that only a mate could feel. She realized that his dream had not been about Bidi, it was something that had haunted him for much longer than that and had become more a part of him than the other had, brought forth by Bidi's death.

Uvuli's gaze returned to its usual unassuming gaze. He nodded to Shenzi and went back to sleep. The vision of his past was gone, but Shenzi never forgot the way he looked for that moment when time had stood still.


	20. The Wicked One

I feel so evil after writing this. First chapter where we take a trip down Jini's obsessed, twisted mind. Silent chapter again.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Jini watched as Bidi and Zera left for the night. Uvuli had taught the girl well, she always had an eye on him, and so had Zera. The day had been uneventful; she and the others had gone to see Lili and her cubs. They had talked about their cubhood that they had spent together. The only thing that had kept him awake was the occasional mention of Uvuli. "Anything to report, Jini?" The rumbling voice came from Katili.

"No, they simply discussed times past all day long. Perhaps you could get someone else to do that next time, I almost fell asleep."

Katili growled, "you will follow my orders without question."

Jini rolled his eyes, "so, you were saying that their was a meeting tonight?"

Katili nodded, "We will begin shortly. Come."

Jini followed Katili to a small cave. They were soon followed by some lionesses, Mazin, and Hodari.

"The attack will take place in two stages." Katili started without acknowledging anyone there. "Mazin, you will take a small group and launch a decoy attack to draw Simba and some of the lionesses away from pride rock, after you will fall back and join up with the token force that will remain here. I will take the remainder of the pride and launch an attack while Simba is buisy fighting Mazin. Hodari will remain here with the token force in case Simba follows Mazin here. Jini will come with me." He looked around the cave. "There are no questions. We will attack in three days time." He left the cave, and was soon followed by the rest of the lions, leaving Jini in the cave alone. He would finally be able to settle his dispute with Uvuli. His mind flowed back to the day when he had killed Uvuli's mate. He had not felt the usual bloodlust with her death, perhaps it was because she had made no attempt to save herself. No running, no screaming, no fighting, she had sat there calmly, talking to him, looking at him only when he had approached. The very thought of that night sent chills down his spine. Jini had known that Katili would eventually lead him to Uvuli, and then he could kill Uvuli. Maybe that would rekindle the bloodlust that had been so long gone. Then there was Katili...he was a forceful leader, trusting no other judgment than his own. He kept control of his pride by divide and conquer, he had special control over all of its members that he needed to. He also kept each of their ties to him secret, so they could not rally. He had a tight control over Mazin because of Lili, and he was taking a risk in assuming that Hodari would do his dirty work. At one time, Hodari would have done anything for Katili, but ever since Bidi arrived, Hodari had been acting different. More like an individual than Katili's puppet. Obviously, Katili had not noticed, and had not left Jini behind to guard Mazin's loyalty. Perhaps the lion was reaching the end of the line. Jini smiled, he would die a violent death.


	21. The Order

Now, things are getting interesting.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Hodari awoke as the sun rose over the horizon. He got to his feet and stretched. Two days until Katili attacked Simba's pride. Two days for him to think of a way to stop it. He sighed, if only the days were longer. He went out and looked around to see who was awake in the camp. Two lionesses were talking, and Jini was sitting looking at Hodari, his eyes glinting bright red in the morning sun. Hodari ignored Jini and went to see if Lili was awake yet. As he walked into the cave where Lili stayed with Mazin and her cubs, he noticed that Mazin was not there. Hodari was surprised that Mazin was not with Lili, but decided that He was probably talking with Katili about the details of the attack. Hodari wondered if Lili had heard about the attack plan.

"Good morning, Hodari," Lili's soft voice drifted to him before he came into sight of the lioness and her cubs.

"Morning, Lili" he said back quietly, so as not to wake the cubs.

"How are you and Bidi doing?" Hodari suppressed a sigh. Everyone seemed to know that he and Bidi liked each other. Lili's laugh broke the silence, only Hodari thought it was awkward. As she laughed, her cubs started to wake. Lili immediately attended to the three cubs.

"How are you and Zera getting along?" Hodari asked. He liked the temperamental lioness, she reminded him of Uvuli.

Lili rolled her eyes, "she's fine, as long as Bidi is with her, otherwise she's unbearable." Lili looked at Hodari as her cubs went back to sleep, "what happened to Uvuli, I know how Bidi met Zera, Nuru told me, but she wouldn't say anything about Uvuli."Hodari's face fell, before he could think of the words to say Lili seemed to know what happened. "Oh no..." her voice trailed off, "poor Bidi."

Hodari looked up at her, "He's not dead, they were separated when Bidi fell off the cliff. He probably thinks she is dead by now."

Lili's expression did not change, "poor Uvuli, she was like a child to him."

Hodari looked up at her in surprise, Uvuli had been close to Bidi, but father?

"Ever since I had my cubs, I realized how Uvuli felt about Bidi. I could see myself doing some of the same things for my cubs. The only thing I haven't figured out is why he is so close to Bidi."

Hodari could still remember her when she could hardly tell when someone was being sarcastic, she had grown since then.

"Hodari," Mazin entered, he seemed tired and his shoulders sagged, "Katili wants you to take a small patrol and do scouting around the area so that he can get a better idea of what the terrain is."

Hodari nodded, he said goodbye to them, and left to find Nuru and Giza. He would take them on the patrol.


	22. The Secret

More from the silent mind Jini. Yes, I know its short.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Bidi approached the camp at a leisurely pace. As she came near, she saw Jini sitting and smiling, giving his usual greeting. She cautiously replied with her own greeting. Not seeing anyone she knew well, she walked over to a pool of water near Lili's cave and bent down to take a drink. She froze as she heard Katili's voice coming from nearby. Jini watched her closely to see what her reaction would be. He considered following orders and killing her then and there, but decided that he would have more fun if he let her live. He had grown bored from lack of anything to do since he had joined this pride. He had agreed to this task only because at fist Katili used his to root out and eliminate any sign of treason. Those had been the days...all of the pride had lived in fear of Jini. Of course, he had eyes and ears, but they were tools to catch some accused of treason. Jini had pitted the pride agents itself, everyone suspected everyone, and anyone could be right. Katili's didactic means of leading the pride had made it clear what everyone was supposed to do. Jini was snapped out of his reminisce by Bidi sprinting away from the camp. Jini smiled, apparently she had figured it out. Katili was threatening to kill Lili if Mazin did not do as he ordered. Jini had been instructed by Katili to kill her if she found out, but if he killed her now, Katili would have all the fun of punishing the objectors. This way, he could pick off those who found out about Mazin and Katili. That and she could lead him to Uvuli...


	23. Patrol

I'm getting started. First attempt at battle scene, please comment.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Hodari moved slowly through the tall grass of the Pride lands. Giza and Nuru were on either side of him carefully moving, taking note of every hill and ditch on the way to Pride rock.

Kopa, Vitani, and three other Pridelanders were slowly encircling the trio as they slipped through the grass. Kopa nodded and the noose tightened.

Hodari realized that they were surrounded too late. He roared defiance, and threw himself at the male that lead the group, Giza and Nuru fought back to back fending off attackers as they came. Hodari was stronger than the other male and was quickly gaining the upper hand in the fight. A weight landed on his back as Vitani pulled him off of Kopa, who followed through and soon they had Hodari pinned beneath their combined weight. Giza and Nuru fought on agenst the other three lionesses. Giza was the first to see that Hodari was pinned; she called to her sister and attacked Vitani. Hodari threw off Kopa and went to help Nuru with the other three lionesses, Kopa leaped onto his back and dug in his claws as deep as they would go. Hodari thrashed around trying to throw off Kopa's weight. Nuru was lying unconscious at the feet of the three lionesses. They went to help Kopa, and no one went to help Vitani with a crazed Giza. Giza was quickly knocked out by Vitani, and Hodari was overwhelmed by Kopa and the three other lionesses.

"Who are you?" Kopa demanded through clenched teeth.

"That is none of your concern," Hodari responded coldly.

Kopa pressed his paw into Hodari's neck. "I say it is. Now, who are you and where are you from?"

Hodari contemplated his options. He could just lie to them, giving real names, they wouldn't know who they were, and a fake reason for being there, or he could tell the truth, and be killed outright with Giza and Nuru. He lied.

"My name is Hodari, we were passing through."

Vitani saw through the lie instantly, "passing through? You three were taking note of every rock and blade of grass, and you expect me to believe you were just passing through? You were scouting out the area, so who are you scouting for?"

Hodari gritted hi teeth, he decided that the best course of action was to shut up and hoped the situation improved.

"A tough nut to crack, eh?" Vitani smiled.

Hodari's heart skipped a beat. She had the same expression as Jini did on her face. That wasn't good, although he doubted that she was capable as Jini.

Vitani flexed her claws, this would be fun...

"Vitani, we should probably take them to Pride rock first," Kopa's voice was filled with warning.

She nodded. They caoutiosly led Hodri up and he carried Nuru whil one of the lionesses carried Giza. Vitani whispered in Hodari's ear. "Try anything funny and I will make you regret it personally."

Hodari knew that she would and could carry out her threat, but maintained his stone silence.

They arrived at Pride rock in good time. At the base, Hodari froze staring at something. Vitani followed his gaze to Uvuli who was calmly walking up to them. "Hodari, it's good to see you again," he looked around the group and chuckled, "so...do I have to do introductions?"

Hodari stared at Uvuli in stunned silence, he had been, by far, the last creature he had expected to see here. "You know these three?" Vitani broke the short silence.

"Of course I do! I knew them when they were cubs, they grew up with Bidi. Take Nuru and Giza to the small cave, I'll wake them up there, you," he looked at one of the lionesses, "tell Simba that we have guests."

Kopa took Giza from the lioness, who left with the one remaining lioness. Uvuli went into the small cave where he had been treating Shenzi and came out with a foul smelling mixture, which he placed on the ground near Nuru and Giza, who quickly woke up.

Giza tossed the foul smelling herb back into the cave. "I remember that stuff..." She muttered to herself.

"Hello to you too Giza," said Uvuli.

"Uvuli! What are you doing here?" Asked Nuru.

"I could ask you the same thing."

Vitani cleared her throat loudly, "well, that's nice and all, but just who are they?"

Giza shot her a dark look, "Oh, I never heard your name."

"That's Giza, Nuru, and Hodari. Giza and Nuru are twins, Hodari is their half brother. He's Kopa and she's Vitani. So what are you three doing here? I suspect that Katili has something to do with it."

"They must have been scouting the area for him." Vitani growled.

Uvuli shrugged, "Wouldn't surprise me much."

"So that means that Katili is planning an attack soon. Wasn't he the one who wanted us to give up half of our lands?"

"His pride was pretty small..." Vitani snorted.

"Do you recognize theses three?" Uvuli asked.

"No, why would I?"

"Simple, because if Katili's entire pride was there, you would recognize them." Kopa explained.

"Correct, in fact if I remember correctly, Katili's pride is about the same size as your own," responded Uvuli.

"Uvuli?"

"Yes Nuru?"

"How do you know them?"

"I raised Kopa with Bidi, she found him not long after we had to leave."

Simba approached them with a look of slight confusion on his face. "Uvuli, who are they?" he asked.

Uvuli sighed, and he explained again how he knew them from when Bidi was a cub.

Simba nodded, "I see, so they are part of the pride that is attempting to take part of our lands?"

"Yes," said a very annoyed Giza.

Simba nodded, "Uvuli they are your responsibility."

"Nothing new." Said Uvuli with a shrug.

Simba left. "So I guess you're POW's now..." said Vitani, "will your leader be trying to get you out?"

"No, he'll probably send Jini in to try and kill us before we tell you anything."

Uvuli's fur bristled with the mention of the leopard.

"He what?" Kopa looked disbelievingly at Nuru.

"You don't know Katili like we do. He's only gotten worse since he hired Jini."

"How did he hire Jini?" asked Vitani.

"The promise of blood, that is the only thing Jini wants," Uvuli said.

"So that's what his problem is," said Giza thoughtfully.

Kopa and Vitani left while Giza and Nuru went to sleep. Hodari looked at Uvuli, "Bidi is still alive, Uvuli." He was never sure but he though he saw a glisten in Uvuli's eye.

"Thank you, Hodari."


	24. The Carcass

Grim title. Grim chapter.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Uvuli approached the giant tree casually. He alone knew that he had left, but Those three could handle themselves. He needed to talk to Rafici. He needed to tell someone, anyone...he shuttered...almost anyone.

Rafici saw the caracal approaching. As Uvuli drew closer in the faint moonlight, the smell of carrion came from a small gourd containing a potion that signaled the approach of a powerful, evil spirit.

Uvuli climbed silently as a shadow up the side of the tree, he did not need the potion to tell him that the makei were following him here.

"How do you do it?" Rafici asked him when he reached the top of the tree.

"With my claws, how else?" Uvuli asked mockingly.

"Not that, resist them," Rafici gestured to the gourd, which had ceased to smell.

"At this point, out of habit," Uvuli laughed, but it was hollow and contained no joy or mirth.

"What led them to believe that you were a weak being who was easily manipulated by whispers in his own mind?"

"Experience," Uvuli gazed into the distance. Rafici waited for him to begin his story. Even before Uvuli began, the winds blew threw the trees, making its whispering. Soon the fake whispers of the wind turned into words that were barely audible above themselves, a thousand voices making faint sounds, soon the whispering turned into voices, and then the wind howled through the braches, a thousand voice crying out in pain, starvation, begging for and end to their pathetic existence, their suffering dragged out beyond their own death in memories of the earth and wind itself the howling chorus rose until it drowned out all else. Then it stopped. The wind was still and silent as the grave that it had mimicked. "They were joyous once, each voice filled with happiness and mirth, innocent and untouched by cruelty. Each was killed slowly, not by the poison, no the water would dilute it too much. Sickness and starvation attacked them in their weakened state, and struck them down, slowly, one by one. They fell to infighting, and eventually they killed each other until, finally, there was one left. One left to carry the burden of many, until they too, inevitably, fell beneath the weight." A hollow, chocked laughter came from Uvuli, "all by me, I watched, with cold indifference and curiosity, as they died. And that's how I found Bidi...The last survivor, I told her that her mother had died in the wastelands, and I had found here there. It was a lie to top all lies. I have never heard anything; living or dead; tell a greater lie. And to my own daughter too, how pathetic..." He sighed, "My soul is a carcass that the makei feast upon like flies, and the one that makes its home here is no help."

"What makei?"

"You disappoint me Rafici, I thought that you were more honest in your dealings. Your Makei plagues this land, although it has been here longer than you, so I suppose it haunts this land rather than you..."

"Uvuli, who cursed you with this ability, to hear those who have passed on? None should have to hear them."

Uvuli laughed, "The one on my left gave it to me as a 'gift' in my grief. As for why I can use it, I have lived longer that any of my kind should, so perhaps I am already dead, just still walking. Oh, by the way, when I die in," he paused for a moment, "two days, tell Nala that I lied, Taka loved his brother, but forever lived in Mufasa's shadow, their father started the whole thing when he chose Mufasa to be king...I'm afraid I oversimplified the matter, leading to some confusion."

"I will have to remember to tell her that. Two days? Isn't that a little short?"

"No, but I can't tell you why, I don't break promises to friends." He chuckled, "the living are far more talkative than the dead."

"By the way, how did you get the information from Sarabi? While what you say of the living is true (which proves you are still alive) Sarabi was always reluctant to speak of him."

Uvuli smiled with a mischievous look in his eye. "Her reluctance was easy to overcome with the help of a long day and a few herbs. Killing someone is easy; drugging them for information is much harder."

Rafici buried his face in his free hand, "I guess you know your herbs well..."

"Oh yes, very," Uvuli replied with a mock tone of pride.


	25. Change of Setting

Oh...Zera doesn't like this idea.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Bidi ran as fast as she could. She couldn't believe that Katili was capable of this. Mazin was his own son, how could he do this? She realized that she was not being followed and slowed as she entered the canopy. She was trying to figure out why Jini had not killed her, but shook off the thought as she burst into the clearing where Zera was preparing to leave.

"Back already, eh?" Zera started to mock Bidi until she saw the look in Bidi's eyes. "What is it?"

"Katili gasp threatening gasp kill Lili-" Bidi never got any farther than that.

Zera sprang into action, she knew what Katili was planning, it hadn't too hard to assemble the plan from bit of gossip she heard. "Come." She turned and headed in a direction she had thought she never would again, towards the Pride lands.

She and Bidi shot along the river, heading to the place where it could be forded. When they had crossed, Zera headed towards the giant tree where Rafici lived.

"Zera, Pride rock is that way!" Bidi yelled as they ran.

"I know." Zera hissed back over her shoulder.

Bidi backed down and followed Zera. She must know what she was doing, but how did she know her way around the pride lands?

Uvuli looked up to see two lionesses headed towards the tree at break neck speed. What were they doing out here? Most of the lionesses were taking a nap now. Neither of them was hurt, So could they be lost. He blinked; he wanted to recognize one of them. The closer they got, the more he could not deny it. He shot down the tree and went straight for Bidi.

"Uvuli, could you pass the..." Rafici looked to see that he was gone. He walked over to the spot where Uvuli had been and saw Uvuli headed for two lionesses. One was Zera. Rafici thought about how it was possible that Zera was running towards his tree. Perhaps he was having a vision, because he recognized Bidi as well. What was going on? He headed down to find out.

Zera slowed her pace as they neared the tree. She saw a dark blur shoot past her and go straight for Bidi. She spun and swiped at the dark shape, which dodged and spun to meet her. Zera saw that it was a large caracal. Before she had time to think, the caracal had launched himself at her and sung himself onto her back. She rolled over before he could get his claws into her neck.

"Uvuli! Zera! Stop!" Bidi came over and stood between the two.

Uvuli' eyes softened and he sat down. He couldn't say anything. He was just happy to see her again.

"Zera, I see you have met our new friends." Rafici came over to the group, a dark look in his eye as he looked at Zera.

Bidi looked at Zera in confusion. "How does he know you?"

Zera looked calmly back at her and relayed the story of how she had been outcast from Simba's pride and how she had met Katili's pride.

"So that's why you caused so much trouble. You don't think that's the real Simba? I Know he is for a fact. I found it out myself." Rafici's voice was firm.

Uvuli laughed, "You were obsessed! You obsessed yourself over things that didn't concern you and that led to your downfall, that and the lack of food and water must have gone to your head."

"Let's see just how much then," Zera growled as she looked at Uvuli.

"That might just be fun," Uvuli stood.

"Stop that!" Bidi yelled. She had been right; they would claw each other to pieces if she wasn't there.

"Well then Zera, Why did you came here?" asked Rafici

Zera grew serious, "to warn you. Katili hates all shamans and healers since his mate died in childbirth. He took a new one, but everyone knew she was just a figurehead to take up space, even her."

"I don't understand why he would come here."

"Katili will kill you if he finds out that you're here. He blames the shaman who was there when his mate died for her death."

"So he wants to kill all shamans and healers?"

"I never said it made sense, I'm just telling you what I know."

"So Katili will attack soon?" asked Uvuli.

"Tomarrow."

"We'd better tell Simba, then."

"Wonderful, I get to go back to Pride rock," Zera groaned

"Well, at least you have family there," said Bidi with a shrug.


	26. Rebirth of War

Beginning of the climax!! Yes!!

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Nuru was the first to notice that Uvuli was gone. "Where's Uvuli?"

Giza rolled over, "I dunno, ask Hodari..."

Nuru rolled her eyes, "Hodari?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know where Uvuli went?"

"He said something about heading to a shaman...Rapici or something..."

"His name is Rafici."

"Oh great, we got the crazy one," Said Giza, who had woken up.

Vitani shot her a dark look, "You're calling me crazy?"

"Why not? I saw the look on your face when you thought you would be allowed to torture Hodari. Didn't you Hodari?"

Great, just wonderful. Hodari had hoped that he could stay out of the argument, but Giza just had to drag him in. Truthfully, he had seen the look on Vitani's face and agreed with Giza, but here was probably not the place to bring it up. Oh well... "Even though I agree with Giza, we are not in a position to be causing trouble."

"At least someone in here has sense."

"Last time I checked, there are three of us and one of you, so shut up." Giza said with a growl.

"Giza, stop arguing with Vitani over nothing," said Nuru.

"She started it..." murmured Giza.

"No, you did!" yelled Vitani.

Hodari and Nuru sighed as Giza and Vitani started arguing again.

"Do you think we should stop them?" Hodari quietly asked Nuru.

"Nah, they're having too much fun." Said Nuru quietly. "I wonder what happened to Bidi...You really were the only reason that she came everyday."

"Well, at least she knows I'm alive, unlike Uvuli."

Nuru bit her bottom lip, "we didn't tell him that Bidi is alive did we?"

"I told him, when everyone had left and you and Giza were asleep."

"You told who what?" Vitani looked at Hodari suspiciously.

Hodari knew he was trapped, he sucked at lying, "Told Uvuli about..."

"About?" Vitani was getting annoyed. This was harder than pulling teeth.

"Bidi is alive."

Vitani was amazed. That was a horrible lie, everyone knew Bidi was dead, "Nice try, but what did you really tell Uvuli?"

"What!? You mean you don't believe us?"

"I though you were friends of Bidi, I don't see how that can be if you are willing to say something that horrible, or are you just in denial?"

"Why would we tell you Bidi is alive, if we didn't already know that you think she is dead?"

Vitani stared at Nuru for a moment with everyone else as they all contemplated the question, "So...I guess you're not lying, this time."

Jini suppressed laughter that would have given away his position. Nuru was good, that much he knew, but she had almost confused him with that one. He went back to waiting for an opportunity to kill someone important, like the pride leader, Hodari, Nuru, and/or Giza. He didn't have to wait long, he soon saw Simba coming to the place. He had an idea, he could wait until the pride leader came close enough, and then he would hit the nearest target. He crouched low, aiming for Hodari. He could come up with an excuse for this later.

Hodari's reaction was slow, but Giza was not, she saw Jini launch himself from the ledge, and catapulted herself into the leopard. "Weren't expecting that were ya, Jini? I've wanted to do that a long, long time..." She hissed as she hit the leopard.

"Giza, you are good to catch me, but," Jini slashed her face, "not good enough." He dug his rear claws into her chest, launched himself off, and disappeared into the grass.

"Giza!" Nuru rushed over to her sister.

"I'm fine," Giza lied as blood seeped from the places where Jini has slashed her. "Just a bit hard to see, that's all." She wiped blood from her eyes.

"You're luck to be alive, Giza! That was Jini, you know what he can do!" Nuru was frantic.

"I caught him off guard, besides; I've always wanted to do that." She smiled before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped to the ground.

"Giza! Giza!" Nuru frantically yelled as she lay next to her unconscious sister.

Hodari was the first to do anything and went to stand next to Nuru, who was sobbing into Giza's dark coat. "Nuru, she's not dead...just unconscious."

Jini laughed as he slipped away, he hadn't been able to get something vital, Giza was a lucky one, but she wouldn't be couscous for too long. That might freak out Nuru a bit.


	27. Reluctant Return

Quick lull in the action to get everyone to their places.

This was the original title of the story. It was referring to Kopa, but I gave it a chapter on Zera instead.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Zera lagged behind the others; the last place she wanted to go was anywhere near this giant rock. Everyone was heading to the back, so no one noticed them approaching. Zera stayed with Bidi, the only one she knew. Her eyes swiveled in their sockets constantly, as if she expected to be jumped at any moment.

They went around the corner to see Giza lying on the ground with Nuru crying next to her. Uvili and Rafici went over immediately, while Zera stayed back and Bidi stayed with her, sensing her unease.

"Jini did this," said Uvuli, "he's the only assassin who knows the pressure points."

Rafici gave Uvuli a questioning look.

"Usually, only herbalists know the pressure points, but I taught Jini them."

"Uvuli, that raises more questions than it answers," said Hodari.

"Jini and I trained together."

Rafici nodded, "you would know more than me about this, it seems."

Uvuli laghued, "Gust splash her with cold ware, and she'll wake up. However, we'll need to put something on the cuts."

Rafici nodded, and went to work using a small supply of herbs in his gourd. Uvuli turned to Simba, "I suppose you already know Zera, so I'll skip the introductions."

"I'm going to kill him..." Zera hissed to Bidi.

Bidi rolled her eyes, "get in line, you aren't the first..."

Simba looked in shock at Zera. Vitani was the first to speak, "M-mother?"

Zera's eyes softened and she look different than Simba had ever seen her before, almost...kind.

Hodari was surprised how much Zera looked like Lili.

Uvuli shook his head, "how rude, I didn't introduce you to Hodari, Nuru, and Giza," he getuted to each with his tail.

"'Dari? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Bidi."

"I'm with Zera, so why are you, Giza and Nuru here?"

"We were captured while on a scouting mission, they brought us here, and Uvuli took care of us here."

Kopa's head was spinning, Bidi and Zera were alive, Bidi knew the three they had captured. "What is going on here!?"

Uvuli calmly explained to Kopa the events of the last few days, and before Bidi had found him.

Kopa nodded, "so how do you know Jini?"

Uvuli's eyes hardened, "we trained together as apprentices, and then we had a...disagreement of sorts.

Kopa rolled his eyes, Uvuli had dived right into details, just as always.

In the confusion Zera had slipped away. Bidi looked next to her to realize that she was gone. Bidi ran out to the end of pride rock looking around for her. She heard someone behind her.

"So she's gone again..." Vitani's eyes were filled with sorrow. "I'm the only one left who really knows here anymore, everyone just assumes that she's evil all the way through..."

"I didn't," said Bidi

Vitani smiled, "they're really alike, aren't they?"

Bidi laughed, "at least I know what Uvuli would do if he met himself."


	28. The Third Day

Bible refrence!! Woah!!

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

"Mazin, prepare for the attack."

"But Hodari and-"

"Enough! We will continue without them, Mazin, do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

Mazin left to gather his small force. Katili's mind raced. The disappearance of Hodari had left him with no choice but to direct one of the lionesses to keep Lili safe. This put a weak link in his control over Mazin. He couldn't leave Jini here; he needed him at the battle to complete his job. As far as Katili was concerned, Hodari and the others were traitors. Jini sat by, wating for the main force to set out. Katili looked to see Mazin and a dozen lionesses heading over the crest of a hill. He roared and gathered the rest of his pride with a roar and one of the lionesses went into the nursery with Lili in it. He jumped down and headed to a ford in the river.

Mazin led his small force over the river and made their way towards pride rock. He noticed a hornbill flying towards pride rock. He took a calming breath, the battle would start soon. He waved his tail for the others to follow him. He went to an area with tall grass and they lay down in it to prepare to ambush Simba as he came by. Mazin looked up and saw black clouds on the horizon.

"Simba! Katili and his pride are attacking!"

Simba jumped to his feet, "Kovu! Kopa!"

The two arrived shortly, Bidi close behind.

"You two, guard Pride rock with seven lionesses in case it's a distraction! Everyone else with me!" Simba and the rest of the pride shot off to engage Mazin's force, which was outnumbered three to one.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Kopa asked Kovu.

Kovu shook his head, "I know, maybe it's just the storm."

"If we are attacked, the hyenas can help," said Bidi.

Kovu sighed, "but they are still weak, there are only thirteen of them."

"I take offence to that, Kovu," Shenzi had walked over with Banzi, "we can still fight, and we have a score to settle."

Bidi went to Uvuli, "Simba-"

"I know, Bidi. It's about time I settled with Jini."

She was concerned about Uvuli, he was far too solemn, even for him. "What's wrong?"

Uvuli sighed, "Nothing," he broke eye contact.

"Uvuli, something is bothering you." Bidi pushed.

"Nothing is wrong Bidi," Uvuli's voice was cold as ice, Bidi took a step back. Uvuli's expression changed to hurt, he murmured an apology to her and walked away.

"Uvuli, you can tell me, what's wrong?" Bidi ran over to Uvuli's side. Uvuli turned the other way. "Uvuli!" Bidi was starting to get impatient with him. Uvuli winced as Bidi's harsh tone reached him, Bidi's voice softened, "I'm sorry, but would you please tell me what's wrong?"

"Bidi," Uvuli turned to face her, "If I told you part of the story, I would have to tell you the entire story."

Bidi looked confused, "What do you mean?"

As she asked a roar sounded from around the corner. The battle had begun.


	29. Deperation

I'm lost for words, maybe because it's past midnight.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Simba and the lionesses sprinted through the grass. Mazin roared the signal and his minuscule force attacked the Pridelanders. Simba was shaken from shock as Mazin crashed full force into his side. He felt Mazin's claws dig into his skin and felt hot blood trickle down his side. He roared in pain and spun to face Mazin.

Katili's words echoed eternally in Mazin's head, he had to take down Simba, or Katili would...He couldn't let that happen.

They both went up on their hind paws and grappled for control, neither gaining the advantage. As time wore on, Mazin's force shrank as lionesses were defeated. MAzin's head spun, too much was going on; he fought on with increasing desperation lending strength to his weakening body.

Simba felt himself slipping, he pushed back and they evened out again. Mazin's form was getting sloppy, Simba waited for Mazin to make a crucial mistake. He did not have to wait long. Mazin soon put himself off balance, and Simba push him to the ground. Mazin roared and slashed at Simba, fighting desperately to wound Simba as much as possible before he was killed. He felt his head crack sharply against a rock and the world faded away.

Simba grunted as he got off of the other lion. He wasn't dead, just unconscious. He looked up to see the remaining of Mazin's force fleeing over the hill. It had been too easy. His looked down at the lion he had just faced; he was surprised to see that it wasn't Katili. He had never met this lion before, but some of the lionesses were definitely from Katili's pride. Simba spun and faced pride rock. He had been tricked, this was a diversion. He roared to the lionesses and they streaked back to pride rock as fast as they could.


	30. Regret

Majuto is the subject of the sequel, just a heads up so you don't forget too quickly. Oh, yeah, Climax!!

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Katili was surprised at the lack of resistance at pride rock. His force had quickly overcome the guards and two males and three females were fighting to maintain control of the nursery. They would be overcome soon.

Katili turned to see Bidi fighting off some of his pride with...no one, just some rouges that looked exactly like his son, Giza and Nuru. They would all die.

"Jini!"

The leopard seemed to materialize out of the chaos, "what is it, Katili?"

"Kill Giza and Nuru, Hodari is mine."

"Of course, but the caracal comes first."

"What caracal?" Katili asked, but Jini had left.

Jini slipped through the battle, if one could call it that.

"Jini..."

Jini smiled and turned to face Uvuli. "Ah, Uvuli, how long has it been? Have you been well?"

Uvuli hissed, "not long enough, Jini."

"Pity"

The two became, a blur of fur and claw. Each struck at his opponent, and each dodged the attacks of the other with equal speed. Jini blocked and countered one of Uvuli's attacks. Uvuli stumbled back, his eyes covered with blood.

"You always did fall for that..." Jini muttered as he delivered a killing blow to Uvuli's neck. Uvuli's dead form fell to the ground. Jini felt...unsatisfied, he had waited and fought for this moment for so long and now he felt nothing, just the same uncomfortable weight on his chest as when he had killed Uvuli's mate.

A roar of pure rage came from nearby and Jini turned in time to see Bidi flying towards him, claws outstretched, a killing light in her tear filled eyes. Time slowed to a craw, Jini couldn't move as an image flashed of a heavily pregnant leopard with bloodshot eyes from crying, calling to him, begging him to stay. Odd that he thought of her at his dying moment. Then the world went black.

* * *

Katica shot up from her slumber and looked around, she saw her son a short way off, and looked at her latest endeavor to forget Jini next to her. He was snoring loudly. She got up and woke her son, "It's time to go..." She whispered.

Majuto got up and stretched, "It's about time. I don't even like this one."

She looked over her shoulder at the other leopard, still snoring, "Neither do I..."


	31. Trator

More Climax!! Big word!!

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

Bidi looked at the dead leopard in her paws. She had never killed except for food before. This was nothing like killing for food. Then, there was a point, a purpose for the dead to serve. There was no point to this, nothing to soften the blow that she had killed. Not even Uvuli to support her.

"Bidi!" Hodari leaped at his father who had come up behind Bidi

"Traitor," Katili hissed as he slammed into his son. He pushed Hodari over, but Hodari slipped out and slashed at Katili's side. Katili turned and slammed Hodari across the face with his claws outstretched. Bidi went for Katili's exposed flank and was knocked scenless by a kick from Katili. Bidi stumbled back, lights flashing in her eyes. Hodari and Katili went up on their rear paws as they struggled for control. Katili pushed Hodari over again, and got at his neck. Katili sunk his teeth into Hodari's neck briefly and knocked him unconscious with a swift blow. Katili got off and turned to a still dazed Bidi, he would make and example of Hodari later. Katili slashed at Bidi, sinking his claws deep into Bidi's shoulder.

Bidi's mind reeled in pain, she couldn't focus her eyes on the lion in front of her. The blow to her shoulder sent her off balance and she was pinned beneath Katili's enormous weight.

"No one to save you now..." He hissed in her ear. Katili began to sink his teeth deep into Bidi's neck. Shenzi and Banzi slammed into Katili's side.

Katili was tired of interruptions, he slashed at Shenzi, who ducked the attack and went for his chin. He brought his head crashing down on hers. He was willing to bet that his head was harder than hers. The gamble paid off, Shenzi crumpled to the ground unconscious. Banzi went for Katili's leg. He grabbed the hyena by the scruff of the neck and flung him off his leg. He heard a roar from the other side of Pride rock. Simba had gotten back from his encounter with Mazin. He roared a retreat signal, and within the space of two minutes he and his pride were gone, leaving carnage in their wake.

* * *

Katili was vehement. Not only had his plan failed, but he had lost Jini. His mind raced as he came back to camp to see Mazin standing with six other lionesses. Mazin's gaze was fixed on Katili.

"What is it Mazin?" Katili snapped.

"I am through being your puppet, Katili. Your power is gone."

"I can kill her myself Mazin..." He whipered so that only Mazin could hear.

"Don't bother, They already know your secret."

"What?" Katili knew what was coming. No one would believe him. He had no proof.

"You are the traitor, Katili."

"What are you talking about?" Katili was getting worried.

"I only serve to protect Lili," Mazin's eyes grew dark.

"I never threatened her!"

Mazin laughed, eerily like Jini, "I never said you did..." Maizn launched himself at Katili amist a chorus of roars.

Author's note: Bet you didn't see that comeing! I didn't see it comeing, and I wrote the thing. I guess it got a life of its own after a while.


	32. Epilouge: The Demon's Wife

Closes thing I'm going to come to falling action. Wrap up and set up.

Characters in Disney's "The Lion King" and "The Lion King: Simba's pride" belong to Disney. Ahadi, Kopa, and Uru are not mine, they are mentioned in many places around the net if you do some poking around, just figured I'd use them to stay consistant with names people already know. Everyone else is mine (about eight characters with names).

* * *

One year later...

Kiara and Nala had their cubs. Mazin is now the leader of Katili's pride. Zira met the hyenas soon ater they left Pride rock. Kopa and Vitani left the Pride lands the day that they recovered from the battle. Bidi and Hodari left the Pride lands a moth later and met a female leopard named Katika and her son, Majuto in the jungle. Bidi finds out that Majuto is Jini's son.

"Katika, I need to talk to you..." Bidi sat alone with Katika. Hodari and Majuto had gone to sleep.

"What is it, Bidi?" Katika asked. Her voice was gentile.

"I...I was the one who killed Jini..." Bidi's head hung low.

"Bidi...I alwase knew someone like you would kill Jini, someone innocent." Katika's eyes glinted with tears.

"Katika?"

"Yes?"

"Who was Jini?"

Katika sighed, "Jini was a child, afraid of his own emotions. I saw the innocence of a child in him, something no one else could see. Not even himself; it was a sad thing. I would like to say that I changed him, but to be honest, I think Uvuli was the only one who ever changed on, whether on not he knew it."

"Could you tell me about his life sometime?"

"Of course, Bidi, but get some rest, it has been a long day."

Bidi nodded and went over to where Hodari was sleeping and went to sleep next to him. Katika waited until she knew Bidi was asleep before she burst into tears and cried herself to sleep.


	33. Autor's Final Note

First off, I would like to thank anyone who read the story all the way through, and I thank you again if you posted a review. I would like to say the next one will be shorter, but I don't make promises unless I know I can keep them.

I apologize if any of the programming text or whatever it is got through, I missed some before uploading.

It feels so great to have the whole thing uploaded, so I decided to tell people the original concept. Note: This started as self assigned therapy

Uvuli was originally a black panther, it was in the process of determining how the heck did he get Bidi that he was changed to a caracal. This was originally supposed to end at Kopa getting back, but Uvuli's background soon got in the way of that. Thanks a lot Jini.

However, I have Jini's background to thank for the center of my next story (Majuto), his son, Majuto *cough*. That is where Jini's past is being addressed, so don't hold your beneath for a story of Jini's past in detail. OK, maybe you can, but you're gonna hold it for a long time.

On to the question that I asked earlier, does anyone want to see a full story on Uvuli's past? I've considered it, but I am more interested in Majuto and have decided to write that one first.

If you have any questions, just post a review and I'll get to you as soon as I can make up - I mean, uh... find your answer.

I want reviews, it tells me people are reading the story, and I do my best to review others. I am _not _a beta reader, they're better at reviewing than me. I am a pathetic beta reader wanna-be. :p

God bless!/Have a nice day!

P.S. I feel sorry for those who skipped to the end. You had no idea what was going on did you?

P.P.S. A lot of the names came from Swahili.

P.P.P.S. I feel like Gandolf right now with all of the P.S.s.

P.P.P.P.S. Sorry it took so long to get a link up...

To Durshka, (beacuse I can't contact you any other way)

Kazin was me messing up names. :P


End file.
